The Road Not Taken
by PengyChan
Summary: A "What If" based on ASiT. After stealing the Tempus Simia, Monkey Fist wants to make sure his past self will never cross paths with Team Possible. But his plan fails big time, and the good guys are now stuck with a problem named Monty Fiske.
1. The Tempus Simia

**Disclaimer:** guess who doesn't own KP? That's right, I don't.

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_A/N: it had been a while since last time I wrote anything about Monkey Fist, who still happens to be my favourite character in the show. So, what better excuse than NaNoWriMo to push aside anything else and get writing a plot bunny that hit me a while back? The fic isn't complete yet, but I have seven chapters done and I'll keep writing as I post, so I hope I'll manage to update regularly enough. Every two weeks or so, most likely.  
The title of the fic is from the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost._

_Also, happy birthday to _**VampireNaomi**_, since right now it's December 12__th__ already where she is._

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Even though that was far from the first time their master spent weeks locked in his study – that small, dark room only lit by candles in what had been the castle's dungeons and where he now kept his most valuable books and scrolls – barely leaving it for their daily training session, the monkey ninjas still hadn't ceased worrying over that kind of behaviour. The previous day it had been exactly three weeks since they had come back home from India with those old scrolls their master had found, and ever since that afternoon he wouldn't even leave them to eat: hadn't they made sure he ate by bringing him food, he probably would have neglected to. Most times he would not even acknowledge their presence, focused on translating and studying the scrolls as he was, but sometimes they found him sleeping, won by exhaustion. Those times they could see that his sleep was no an easy one – then again, it never was.

That was the reason why the monkey ninja who went to bring him some tea and biscuits – not exactly a duty they were very willing to fulfil since the room was always pervaded by a heavy smell of incense that made their eyes water – was very surprised to find him neither studying the scrolls nor sleeping. Actually, the thought of sleep couldn't be farther from his mind: Monkey Fist was walking around the room in a frenzy, muttering to himself and letting out a laugh from time to time – the kind of laugh that would have screamed insanity to any human being who heard it and that was immediately classified as trouble by the monkey ninja.

"The greatest opportunity I could hope for! I can't waste it – I _won't _waste it! There will be no stopping me this time, not with the power to twist the fiber of time in my hands!" a loud, insane laughter came from Monkey Fist, and the monkey ninja immediately winced. His behaviour was worrying and a sharp contrast with how terrible he looked: with bloodshot eyes, pale skin looking even paler in the flickering light of the candles in the dark and the circles around his eyes even darker than usual he looked like someone barely alive, someone who desperately needed some sleep.

And still, Monkey Fist felt so full of energy that he felt like he could tear down a stone wall with his bare hands, the same way he was more than ready to tear apart anything and anyone who dared to stood between him and his goal, the item that would allow him to rewrite history – _literally_. He laughed again at the thought – the monkey ninja still standing at the door holding the tray with his meal nearly took a step backwards – and resumed walking back and forth, his mind racing, barely aware of the fact he was speaking aloud.

"But how could I _use _it? There are countless things I could accomplish, countless! I could go so far back in any time, I could learn from the greatest masters of Tai Shing Pek Kwar who ever existed! I could learn from Toshimiru himself – oh, wouldn't that be priceless!"

The thought of the outrage those fools in Yamanouchi should they know he had the possibility to learn from the man who had created their school was delightful to say the least – but maybe there would be no chance for them to feel any outrage: with the power of time in his hands, he could even stop their school from being built! There would be no Yamanouchi ninjas to guard the Louts Blade, to keep him from taking it, from taking what rightfully belonged to him! Or else he could go back to kill Stoppable before he could steal his Mystical Monkey Power, so that he could never become the nuisance he had grown to be – the mere thought that useless buffoon had a share of the power he had worked to hard to get, the power that belonged to him and him alone, was outrageous… and for that outrage, Stoppable would die, painfully.

Another delighted laugh escaped him, but then he shut his eyes and drew in a few deep breaths, trying to put some order in his racing thoughts. Entertaining as it was, he couldn't fall in the trap of getting too ahead of himself: that had too often led to a defeat, and he would not allow himself any mistake now. No, he would spare no thought on what he would do once the Tempus Simia was in his hands until he had actually collected both parts of the item: now he would only focus on how to have it, and on nothing else.

Monkey Fist opened his eyes again, frowning in thought. That was going to be the hardest part, no doubt. The first piece of the item was in a museum, and should Team Possible show up he could end up being defeated… and he could not allow it to happen: his destiny was at stake, and he could not allow himself any more mistakes. What was there that could grant him success after all the times his schemes had been foiled by either Team Possible or those pesky Yamanouchi ninjas?

Maybe he would need help, Monkey Fist reasoned. The thought made him grimace a little – he had always preferred to work alone rather than mixing himself with other villains, those fools who truly believed power could come from their ridiculous doomsday devices that could blow in their faces any moment. Still, if he needed assistance, some of them would probably do, if anything to keep Team Possible distracted long enough for him to get what he wanted.

Once the item was complete and in hands, he could as well abandon those fools and pursue his destiny – or he could keep them as allies for some more time with the promise that each of them would get a share of the globe, and maybe he would even keep his promise… only to crush them later and fulfil his destiny, of course: he certainly was not going to share. Monkey Fist firmly believed in destiny, just as firmly as he believed that _his _destiny was becoming the Monkey Master – a god on earth, and the only true ruler that there could be. The obstacles he had faced until that moment were minor setbacks, simply meant for him to prove himself worthy to be the one, true Monkey Master.

But until the moment unlimited power was finally his, he certainly was not above taking advantage of some fool's delusions… but he would be generous enough to spare their lives, given that they didn't try to stand in his way. Monkey Fist grinned at the thought and reached for the phone, which had stayed disconnected for three weeks straight – not that many people phoned him, but he'd rather avoid being interrupted by the millionth phone call from DNAmy – and began to dial Killigan's number: that man was enough of a fool to do his bidding without even suspecting what his true plans were. Drakken was foolish like that, too – he could be useful, so very useful.

His sidekick could be more troublesome, having definitely much more common sense than her employer, but she could be disposed of as well: other than being confident of his skills enough to be certain he could defeat her in a fight, he knew she would be no threat to him the moment he gained the power to manipulate time… and until that moment, her fighting skills would be useful to him. She would keep Team Possible distracted while he-

_And what if she doesn't? What if they only hinder you? None of them ever defeated Team Possible. What makes you think they'll get anything right this time?_

The thought caused the grin to freeze on Monkey Fist's lips, his hand stopping in midair. He stared at the phone for a few more moments before he finally hung the receiver. That was true – none of the villains had ever defeated Team Possible; Drakken and Shego were defeated by them almost every Tuesday, and Killigan… he was such a pathetic excuse of a villain that he couldn't picture any way he could be useful to him. Could he trust any of them to do something as important as serving as tools in what was his best – and probably his _only _– chance to gain the power of time travelling, and thus the chance of a lifetime to rewrite history to aid his destiny? No, he could not – besides, how could he not be sure they wouldn't double cross him? None of them was above that, after all. He certainly couldn't take a risk like that. What in the _world _had he been thinking?

"There must be another solution," he muttered, a thoughtful frown on his face. Maybe he could have them distracting Team Possible while he stole the head of the Tempus Simia from the museum before they could even be there to stop him. Yes, stealing the item while they were busy elsewhere seemed the best option. But how could he know in advance if, where and when some villain would strike? It wasn't like anyone in the villain community had the habit to tell the others their plans beforehand, and until that moment Monkey Fist had never been really interested in any of their plans. Maybe he could-

A soft, hesitant squeal snapped him from his thoughts. Monkey Fist turned to the monkey ninja still standing in the doorway, holding the tray with tea, biscuits and a slice of cake. He had never really had a sweet tooth, but he wouldn't mind some tea and he was just then realizing how hungry he actually was. Maybe he could think a little more clearly once he had eaten something – besides, thinking always came easier over a good up of Earl Grey. He gave a slight nod to the monkey ninja, who immediately placed the tray on the ground next to the small rug Monkey Fist usually sat onto when meditating before leaving, shutting the door behind it.

Monkey Fist sat cross-legged on the rug and took the cup. It was warm, but not quite as hot as the monkey ninjas usually served him his tea – how much time had that foolish monkey waited on the doorway before making its presence known? – but he didn't really mind. He took a moment too savour the scent before he took a sip of tea, a familiar and calming gesture that soothed his restlessness a little. He took a bite of cake and resumed pondering what he could do.

Asking some other villains what their next scheme was and when it would take place was most definitely out of question: he had never had any interest in their activities after all, and if he asked about it now they would certainly suspect he could be up to something and might demand to know what it was about… and Monkey Fist had no intention to let anyone know anything about the Tempus Simia. He doubted any of those fools would really think of it as anything more than an old legend, but he was not going to take the risk: he wouldn't do anything that could compromise in any way the best chance at success he had had in years. And of course, actually _asking _them to cause some havoc on a certain day was even less of an option, unless…

Monkey Fist shuddered a little at the idea of having to ask DNAmy to do _anything_. He had no doubt she would do just what he asked, so he could easily have her creating some kind of… monstrosity that could cause enough trouble in some place that was far enough from the museum where he would steal the body of the Tempus Simia at any time he wanted, so that Team Possible would be elsewhere when he did so – still, the idea of having to hear from her was enough to make him shudder… especially since calling her would probably mean making her even more delusional than she really was, giving her a reason to cling to her foolish certainty that he might be harbouring any kind of romantic feelings for her.

Then again, Monkey Fist reasoned as he took another sip of tea, he wouldn't have to put up with her for long after that. No, he wouldn't have to put up with her _at all_: once he had the power of time in his hands, he would make sure she would _never _be able to become a nuisance to him by dealing with her as soon as she was done making herself useful and giving him his monkey hands and feet.

The thought made him chuckle darkly as he finished his tea. For a moment he almost got up and went to make the phone call right away, then he changed his mind and willed himself to be patient enough to assume the lotus position, shut his eyes and start meditating – that phone call that was going to take all his patience and self-control, and some meditation would be needed.

* * *

"Why does it have to be at three in the morning?" Ron complained with a yawn as the truck pulled to a stop on the outskirt of Clarksville "last time I checked villains liked to _sleep_, too."

"Maybe genetically engineered monsters are insomniac," Kim replied before jumping out of the truck, turning to yell at the driver over her shoulder "thank you so much for the ride, Mr. Thompson!"

The driver dismissively waved his hand. "It's the lest I could do after you got my truck out of that river," he replied before quickly starting the engine again – no matter how grateful he was, he did _not_ want to stay there one second more than necessary… not with a sixty feet tall monster running amok in town.

"No big!" Kim called after him.

"Hey!" Ron yelped, barely managing to jump from the truck as it drove away "he could at least wait a _moment_! Not cool," he muttered, though rather relived by the fact he hadn't dropped his pants for that once "what's the rush anywa-"

His words were suddenly covered by a rumbling noise as the ground beneath them began shaking, and moments later a nearby building collapsed on the ground to reveal the… _thing_ they had been called to stop. The huge, dinosaur-like creature roared and waved its tail, slamming it against another building and causing it to partially collapse. Ron's jaw dropped, and Rufus went to hide deeper in his pocket with a whimper.

"…oh, okay. Can't blame him for rushing."

Kim sighed. "This is _so_ DNAmy's work," she muttered – that creature bore a striking resemblance with the creature she had created when working with Drakken some time back. She had thought it had been Drakken's idea to come up with a thing like that – wasn't she supposed to all about cute and cuddly, weird as her idea of cute and cuddly could be? – so why had she created another creature like that again? It was big, menacing, ugly, and scaly. Not even DNAmy could define it even remotely _cute_.

"Okay, KP, I have a plan," Ron announced "you keep it distracted while I… run around screaming and try to come up with something."

"Sounds like a plan," Kim commented with a small smile before pulling out her grappling hook and aiming it to a building just behind the monster's back "get running and let me know what you think of."

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The Tri-City museum was completely dark as Monkey Fist dropped inside from a window someone had been careless enough to leave open. One inside he went straight for the room where the item he was seeking – the body of the ancient, priceless artefact known as the Tempus Simia – was held. He didn't worry about the possibility he could meet some night guard, nor about the cameras: his monkey ninjas had already taken care of that. And even if there were one guard left to wander within those walls, it wouldn't be a problem – Monkey Fist was more than ready to fight his way through an army if that was the only way to get his hands on the Tempus Simia, let alone some pathetic night guard that certainly stood no chance to fight him.

Besides, he had no time to waste: he knew that Kim Possible and that cursed Stoppable had to be busy elsewhere far from there with the creature DNAmy had created – he didn't ask just what kind of creature she had created for the task, nor he wanted to know since it would require speaking to that woman a few seconds more than it was strictly necessary – but the sooner he'd be out of there with the item, the better it would be. But once he had the power to manipulate time… oh, then he wouldn't have to worry about not wasting _time_ anymore, would he?

A dark chuckle escaped him at the thought, but he focused once again on the task at hand as he finally stepped in the room where they kept, among other relics that were nowhere as valuable, the first part of the item that would allow him to rewrite history and fulfil his destiny. There it was, right in the middle of the room – the Tempus Simia. A sinister grin curled his lips as he carefully grabbed the item, handling it with the same care one would use to handle a newborn. Once, a long time ago, he would have felt outraged at the thought anyone would ever steal from a museum, thinking of it as the worst kind of crime. But now it was different: his eyes were now open to his destiny, and he knew better.

Leaving an artefact such as that one would be a dreadful waste, almost a crime itself: those fools couldn't even begin to imagine _how_ priceless that relic actually was. But he _did_, and he would put its power to a good use by using it to fulfil his destiny as the Monkey Master. And when he did-

A squeal snapped him from his thoughts, and Monkey Fist turned to see that his monkey ninjas had joined him in the room. "Have you made sure nobody could give the alarm?" he asked, receiving a few nods as a response. "Good. Let's get away from here," he glanced down at the relic in his simian hands, a wide, insane grin spreading on his face "we must get ourselves a head."

* * *

"What I _still_ don't get is why DNAmy just created a thing like this and let it tear down a town," Kim – a little bruised and desperately needing a comb, but still in one piece – said to Wade as she watched the monster lying on the ground, wrapped into the electric cables she had managed to drive it into "it's not something she usually does – she only did so once because Drakken asked her to!"

"You're trying to find logic in something _DNAmy_ did?" Ron asked, trying to walk up to her without stumbling on the debris of what had probably once been a mall "KP, you know who we're talking about…"

"She could be right, Ron," Wade's voice came from the Kimmunicator. Both Kim and Ron turned to the screen to see him reading something on the screen of his computer "seems like someone robbed the Tri-City museum while you were busy with DNAmy's monster. It could have been just a distraction to cover up something bigger."

"Bigger than a sixty feet tall dinosaur?" Ron said suspiciously.

"Not _that_ kind of big, Ron."

Kim frowned. "Couldn't it just be a coincidence? I mean, there are so many museums and so many thieves…"

"That's what I thought, at first," Wade admitted "but check this out – the stolen artefact was the body of a monkey statue known as the Tempus Simia. Seems like the thief left already, but the guards say they were attacked by monkeys. Does it remind you of someone?"

"Monkey Fist!" Ron almost yelled, jumping backwards and nervously glancing around as if he feared he could appear out of thin air.

"Yeah, it wasn't a hard guess," Wade said with a shrug "do you want my two cents?"

"Monkey Fist convinced DNAmy to start this mess," she gestured to the ravines around her "so that we'd be busy and wouldn't be there to stop him. It must have not been difficult to convince her if even Drakken could charm her into helping him once," she shuddered a little, and behind her Ron made the chocking noise of someone trying not to throw up. "Is that what you thought?"

"Yes, that's just what I was thinking."

"And we fell for it," Kim growled.

"Hey, there was a giant monster destroying a town. That would have gotten the priority anyway," Ron said, almost thankful for the fact Monkey Fist's plan _did_ work – dealing with a giant dinosaur didn't seem that bad if compared with that it would have been like having to deal with that insane monkey man and his monkey minions "besides, Wade can track him, right?"

Wade shook his head. "I wish," he muttered "but it's not so easy. He doesn't use any kind of technology that would make him detectable like other villains do. I mean, tracking out guys with doomsday devices and huge lairs are one thing, but a guy who uses pretty much no technology and isn't likely to do something stupid that would give his position away? That's hard."

"How hard?"

"Diamond hard."

Kim groaned. "Great. Can you try looking for some info on the thing he stole – what's the name again?"

Wade checked something on his screen again. "Tempus Simia."

"And that's monkey mumbo jumbo for… what?" Ron asked.

"It's Latin, really," Wade was typing so fast that his fingers were a blur "and hey, check this out – it means Time Monkey."

"Time Monkey?" Kim repeated slowly, staring at him as if she expected him to correct himself and say that he has been wrong, that Tempus Simia actually meant something else, possibly something that made some _sense_.

"That's what it says."

"…okay, so we've got a stolen Time Monkey. Fine. Anything else?"

"Let me see…" Wade typed something else "the idol seems to hold… well, try to guess."

"Mystical powers?" Kim guessed.

"Exactly. And there's more – centuries ago its head was separated from the body and hidden forever so that nobody could find it.

Ron made a face. "Must have been one ugly monkey."

Kim smiled a little. "I still have to see a monkey who'd win a beauty prize. Anything else, Wade?"

"Well, there are some vague mentions of the reason why the head was hidden. If the Tempus Simia is made whole, it seems like it could be used for – try to guess?"

"Evil monkey magic," Ron muttered with a shudder. Perched on his shoulder, Rufus reached to pat his earlobe.

"Sure. What else?" Wade sighed "though I still don't know exactly _what_ kind of evil monkey magic."

"Just like those jade monkeys – why is that guy always trying to place together stuff that would stay a lot better very, very far away?"

"And now Monkey Fist has it," Kim said with a frown "that's bad news."

"That's sick and wrong!" Ron corrected her.

"That, too," she conceded before speaking to Wade again "see if you can find something else about it, and let me know if Monkey Fist shows up somewhere. If he wants to collect the head too, he'll have to step down form whatever tree he's hiding."

"Unless he already has it," Wade said with a worried frown.

"Wade. It's five in the morning, I just came out from a fight with a giant dinosaur thing and just found out an insane monkey man got a hold of some mystical evil item. Can you allow me some optimism?"

The boy smiled a little sheepishly. "Okay, I'll see what I can find. And I'll get you a ride home right away."

"Thanks, Wade," Kim sighed "maybe I could have a shower before going to school. I'd never hear the end of it if Bonnie saw me like this."

Ron seemed still way too worried about the news about Monkey Fist to even bring himself to spare a thought on her worries. "I'm more worried about Monkey Freak having that Freaky Time Statue," he said "that sounds like very, very bad news."

"Don't be too tragic, Ron," Kim said with a shrug "we stopped him a lot of times already, we'll stop him aga-"

"I'm afraid Stoppable-san is quite correct. This is the worst thing that could happen."

Both Kim and Ron promptly turned to see the ghost-like form of an old man floating behind them, sitting cross-legged a few feet above the ground.

"Oh, hey, Sensei!" Ron waved at him while Rufus, on his shoulder, bowed at the old master, who gave him a small nod "is that really you? Neat trick! How are you doing _this_?" he asked. It would take him some time before getting used to mystical stunts like that.

By his side, Kim blinked. "Stoppable-san? _Sensei_?" she repeated, suspiciously glancing at the old man "Ron, do you know this guy?"

"Sure, he's the one who… er…" Ron paused a little awkwardly as he realized that, true to his word, he had never mentioned anything of what had happened at Yamanouchi during his stay the previous year. He glanced at Sensei. "Do you mind…?"

The old man nodded. "It is alright for you to tell her, Stoppable-san. She is your friend, and therefore she is our ally. I wouldn't have showed myself to her hadn't I deemed her trustworthy. Besides, the situation at hand requires all the help we can possibly get."

"Oh. Okay," Ron cleared his throat and turned to Kim – who, on the other hand, was giving him a glare that was more than enough to know what she was demanding him to do.

_Explain. Now._

"So, uh… remember when I went to Yamanouchi for the students exchange program thingy?"

"Yes?"

"Well, turns out the Yamanouchi school is a secret ninja school, and they had this shape-shifting sword called Lotus Blade who only the ones with Mystical Monkey Power can use, and guess what? Monkey Fist wanted it. He tried to steal it, but I stopped him. All by myself," he proudly puffed out his chest.

Kim raised an eyebrow. Rufus noisily cleared his throat. They both kept staring at Ron.

"…okay, some help was needed, but I did a lot of stuff by myself, really. He can tell you!" he added quickly, turning to Sensei almost hopefully.

The old man nodded. "It his true – Stoppable-san proved himself worthy of wielding the Lotus Blade, and was of great help in the battle against Monkey Fist."

"Uh… okay," Kim said, glancing a little wary of what looked like some kind of hologram before turning back to Ron "and you didn't tell me because…?"

"He promised us he would keep the secret," Sensei spoke up for him before Ron could ever say anything "and while keeping the secret honours him, as I said we may also need your help. I have heard quite well of you, Kim Possible, and I'm certain we can trust you to keep the true nature of our school a secret as well."

"Well… sure, no problem," she replied "so, I take it Monkey Fist is on to something big?"

Sensei nodded gravely. "I'm afraid so. The fact he stole the body of the Tempus Simia leaves very little doubt on his intentions."

Kim frowned. "How do you know what happened?" she asked. The idol had been most likely stolen just a couple of hours earlier, so how could he know?

"We have our sources," was the vague reply "should one mystical item we know of be stolen anywhere in the world, we'd be the first ones to know."

Kim bit back the question that had threatened to leave her mouth – why in the world couldn't they be bothered to also _guard_ them instead of just keeping themselves informed on what happened? – and decided to turn her attention to the most pressing matter. "Is it really _that_ bad?"

Sensei nodded gravely. "Unfortunately, yes. Whoever recollects both parts of the Tempus Simia idol and places them together in the right place and in the right moment gains the power to twist time itself."

Both Kim and Ron stared numbly at him for a few moments, their mouths hanging open. "Wait, wait, time out," Ron finally spoke "are you really saying that with that Tempis… Tempor…"

"Tempus Simia," Sensei corrected him "the Time Monkey."

"Right. Are you really saying that with the Time Monkey one can really… er…" Ron paused "no, wait, I don't know. What does one get to do with it?"

Sensei sighed. "If placed back together correctly Tempus Simia gives whoever holds it the power to move back and forth in time at will. With a power like that at his disposal, I dread to think what someone like Monkey Fist could do. He could easily rewrite history, and shape the world to fit his will."

Okay, Kim thought, that sounded So Very Bad. A part of her mind faintly realized that a possibility like that sounded beyond crazy, but she had witnessed real monkey magic working already and she didn't feel like doubting Sensei's words at all. Fine, maybe she didn't really trust him blindly, but Ron did, so… maybe she could give him a chance. "Fine, that _is_ bad. Do you have any idea where the head of the statue is? If we can keep it from him he won't be able to put the statue together, and won't get to mess with time," Kim said.

"Sadly, we do not know the exact location – that can only be found by the one with the idol's body. But we do have some clues that point to Australia, and we'd be glad to let you know everything we know if you granted us the honour of paying us a visit. Your help and Stoppable-san's is going to be much needed."

"Sure," Kim immediately held up her Kimmunicator "Wade, cancel our ride back home and get us one for Japan. We need to go to…"

"Yamanouchi, I know – I heard everything. You forgot to shut off the Kimmunicator."

"Ah. Ops."

"No problem, you know it has super batteries," Wade replied "anything else?"

"Yes, let my parents know that I'm staying out for a little more and that I'm not with any boy. Okay, there's Ron, but he doesn't count…"

"Hey, thanks," Ron muttered, folding his arms.

"…and tell them that I won't miss any other school day, but this is an emergency. Got that?"

"They'll find the message as soon as they wake up. About the ride-" his words were suddenly covered by a loud rumbling noise. Both Kim and Ron glanced up to see a large, black hover jet hovering above their heads, then they turned to Sensei.

The old man smiled faintly. "I knew you'd honour us with your presence, so I took the liberty of arranging your arrival myself."

Ron's face brightened. "Hey, good thinking."

"Wade, scratch away the ride part – we already got one. Just warn my parents, I'll stay in touch."

"Sure. Good luck," Wade said before the Kimmunicator switched off. Kim put it back in her pocket and sighed, wondering what were they getting themselves into.


	2. Getting a Head

_A/N: sorry for taking a little more time than I had said to update, but this chapter needed some fixing and I've been busy as heck lately. Hope it was worth the wait._

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The cup of tea had been steaming hot when the monkey ninjas had brought it to him, but now it was quickly cooling without even having been touched; Monkey Fist was far too busy going through all the texts in his possession that could help him locating the general area where the head of the Tempus Simia was hidden. He knew that it had to be somewhere in Australia and that once the idol would be near its head the Tempus Simia would clap, but it still wasn't enough: Australia was a far too large country to search in little time, and he had no time to lose. He allowed him to smirk once again at the thought he would never have to worry about losing time again once the Tempus Simia was complete before he went back to his texts.

There was no direct mention of the area where the item had been hidden, but there were some mentions of peculiarities that could help him guessing in what part of the country it could be: the mountains with several rivers flowing from them, gorges, reddish rocks. If he could add to that an estimation of how many days it had taken to bring the item to its hiding place from the coast with the means of transportation used – he could remember reading it somewhere among other things – there was a good chance for him to find out at least what the general area could-

Monkey Fist was suddenly snapped from his thoughts by some curious squeals. He scowled and turned to see a few of his monkey ninjas curiously taking a look at the body of the Tempus Simia idol – a _too_ close look for his tastes. "Stay away from it!" he snapped, causing the monkey ninjas to whimper apologetically and scramble back. "I have no use for your apologies – I already told you not to approach to the idol," Monkey Fist scowled "and you should know how little I like having to repeat myself. Now get lost," he muttered, turning his attention back to his estimations.

The monkey ninjas had long since learned not to question him and immediately obeyed, stopping outside to exchange worried glances. It certainly was not the first time their master snapped at them, but it had never happened for stepping close to some idol: he had never thought they could be clumsy enough to cause any damage, and he had always trusted them for the most delicate missions. Still, now he seemed to think that they could somehow damage the item by just… looking at it.

None of them could remember him snapping at them quite so viciously, not for something like that, and it certainly was not the first time he obsessed over some artefact he would need for his goal. This time it was even worse than usual. It was beyond their comprehension what that object was for and their master hadn't bothered to explain them, but they could tell it had to be something invaluable, and they hoped that his plan would work out this time: he seemed to be putting so many fond hopes on that item that they didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he failed to-

A sudden, high-pitched laugh resounded in the while hideout, causing the monkey ninjas to wince. "Yes, _yes_! That must be it!" they heard Monkey Fist exclaiming in delight before he stormed out of his study, holding up the body of the Tempus Simia in triumph "we'll leave for Australia by daybreak – now what I know where to look, the idol will drive us to its head!" he laughed again, and several monkey ninjas felt their hair stand on end. They exchanged a few glances, unsure whether they should think of it as good news or bad news.

Despite his triumph Monkey Fist didn't miss their hesitation, and he didn't seem to appreciate it at all. "What are you still doing here? I expect you to be ready to leave at once!" he barked, and the monkey ninjas immediately scattered to pack up whatever they could need for the travel as quickly as possible.

* * *

"This would have been so cool if those guys would speak a word," Ron muttered as he got rid of the parachutes – his had gotten stuck on what was probably the only tree on that side of the mountain "I almost forgot how boring ninjas are. And why can't they just bring us to the school anyway?"

"I'm going out on a limb and saying that a jet is a too noticeable thing to have hovering over a supposedly secret ninja school," Kim pointed out as she got her own parachute off herself "so, which way now?"

Ron blinked. "Eh?"

"You've been here already and I haven't," Kim reminded him, feeling a slight pang of annoyance over the fact she still knew pretty much… nothing about the time Ron had spent in Japan, aside from the fact he had kept Monkey Fist from getting some kind of mystical sword. Why hadn't he told her? Fine, he did promise he wouldn't tell, but… wasn't she an exception since they had been best friends since preschool? "You remember the way to the school, right?"

"Well, it was some time ago, and there was so much walking to do that I was dead tired, but…" Ron glanced around, then his gaze brightened "hey, that rock looks familiar!" he exclaimed, walking towards a rock partially covered with snow that looked everything like a hundred other rocks around there.

"Ron, are you _sure_…?"

"Sure," Ron said with a shrug "don't underestimate the Ronst- eep!" he yelped as he suddenly felt the ground sliding from beneath his feet, allowing him to notice the chasm he had been heading straight into just a second too late for him to try scrambling back.

"RON!" Kim yelled, her hand shooting out to grab whatever part of him or his clothing she could reach. She managed to grab his belt and yanked him back, causing the belt to snap and Ron's pants to fall in a heap around his ankles – but she did manage to have him stumbling backwards and on solid ground. Solid ground covered with snow.

"Ow! Cold, cold, _cold_!" Ron yelped, immediately jumping on his feet, and he didn't stumble forward because of the pants around his ankles just because Kim was quick to grab him. "Phew! Thanks, KP."

"No big," she said with a shrug. She was about to add that maybe she should just contact Wade to ask him what the safer route was, but she trailed off as a chuckle reached her ears, followed by a feminine voice.

"I see your American buffoonery hasn't changed, Stoppable-san."

"Uh?" Kim and Ron glanced up to see a girl clad in a gi standing a few feet from them, an amused smile on her face. Ron immediately reached down to grab his pants and pull them back up with an embarrassed grin. "Oh, hey, Yori! How's my favourite ninja?"

"Yori? _Favourite_ ninja?" Kim replied, glancing sideways at Ron. He hadn't mentioned her at all in his babblings about the school on their way there.

The ninja bowed slightly. "I am fine, Stoppable-san. And so are you, I see. You must be Kim Possible," she gave Kim a slight nod "I am Azumaya Yori. It is my honour to meet you, though I wish it could have happened under better circumstances. Thank you for accepting to help us."

Kim shrugged and smiled back, though just a taken aback by how glad she seemed to see Ron… and how glad he seemed to see _her_. "Hey, no big. That's what I do," she said.

"And we are all very grateful to your for that," Yori said "your help might be much needed. Do follow me, it will be my honour leading you safely to Yamanouchi."

Ron seemed very relieved to hear that. "Oh, that's great. The school isn't so easy to reach, uh?"

Yori smiled. "I supposed it is the point of a secret ninja school, isn't it?"

"Er… yeah, sure. But why don't we meet up somewhere else next time? Maybe at Bueno Nacho, when we're not meeting up because Monkey Fist is up for some mystical mumbo jumbo," he suggested, and Rufus nodded from his pocket. Kim, on the other hand, wondered if _she_ was even being considered in said possible meeting.

Yori's expression darkened as he mentioned the reason why they were all there. "That man has no idea the chaos he could cause by using the Tempus Simia," she said quietly "he must be stopped."

"I think he knows all too well the chaos part, really," Kim muttered "he's completely insane, in case you didn't notice. But I agree on the part where we stop him. So, what kind of info do you have for us?"

"I don't know much, but Sensei said that he has an idea of what the area where the head is hidden is," was the reply as they reached a waterfall and passed behind it "we can only hope Monkey Fist doesn't, or else he'll have an advantage over us."

"What kind of advantage?" Kim asked, raising her voice a little – both Ron and Rufus' teeth were now chattering because of the cold water that had hit them – as they began walking on a suspended bridge whose end she couldn't see through the mist.

"It seems that the body of the Tempus Simia is the key to find its head," Yori was explaining, taking just a moment to shoot an amused glance at Ron as he rubbed his arms in the attempt to keep himself reasonably warm "when the head is close, the idol will clap."

"Like when someone yells 'warmer' or 'colder' in treasure hunts?" Ron asked.

Yori seemed a little perplexed. "Warmer? Colder? Treasure hunts? Is it an American thing, Stoppable-san?"

Well, Kim though, maybe Ron should have guessed that games like that were not something that's usually done in super secret ninja schools on top of a mountain and thus pretty much isolated from the world. "More or less, but it's not important. This is a lot more serious than just some- whoa!" she trailed off with a gasp as she saw through the mist what was on the other side of the long suspended bridge. Ron _had_ told her something about the Yamanouchi school during the flight, but Kim would have never guessed it could be such a breathtaking sight. The school itself was a beautiful, imponent and ancient-looking building that looked even more impressive surrounded by peaks as it was. "Is _that_ the Yamanouchi school?"

"Yep," Ron grinned a little "a tad different from Middleton High, eh?"

"Your wonder honours us, Kim Possible," Yori said with a small bow before she resumed walking "Sensei is impatient to speak to you, but once the Tempus Simia is safe again you're welcome to take a look around if you wish to. You'll always be welcome here."

"Uh… thanks," Kim mumbled, still gazing at the school "it looks like it's… part of the mountain."

"That's very observant of you," was Yori's reply "it actually is. Toshimiru himself carved it in the mountain all by himself by using the Lotus Blade."

Ron elbowed Kim slightly. "You know, that thing is _so_ very cool, but I think a building company would have made it quicker…"

"Ron…!"

Far from being offended, Yori laughed. "Oh, Stoppable-san – you and your American buffoonery," she said fondly, and Kim felt another slight sting of annoyance "I did miss it."

"Hey, I'm glad you did!" Ron exclaimed, then he frowned "I mean, I'm not glad that you missed it, I'm just glad that you do, you know… like it?"

"I certainly do, Stoppable-san."

Fine, that was it. "Is there _anything_ else you can tell us about the Tempus Simia?" she asked, walking a bit forward so that she'd be just between Ron and Yori as they stepped in front of Yamanouchi's gate.

"I might have some of the answers you seek, Kim Possible," they glanced up to see Sensei standing a few feet from them. He bowed slightly. "And welcome, Stoppable-san. It is our honour having you in this school again."

Ron grinned broadly. "Hey, it's my honour to be back. By the way, have you ever thought about getting a bus line? It would spare me a _lot_ of walking any time I drop by…"

"I am deeply regretful that once again we have to meet in unfortunate circumstances," Sensei went on after giving a slight bow to Rufus, who returned it from Ron's shoulder, and apparently ignoring Ron's comment about the bus line "I hope we can, however, keep them from getting even more unfortunate."

"Well, that's what we're here for," Kim said with a shrug "but we need some more info about this… Time Monkey."

Sensei gave a slight nod. "Of course, I will tell you everything I know. Yori, will you please tell the other students to keep going with their training before you join us in my dojo?" he turned back to Kim and Ron "would you like some tea and maybe some rice cake while we talk?"

"Isn't there anything like, uh, soda and nacos?"

Both Yori and Sensei raised an eyebrow.

"…okay, tea it is."

* * *

While tea wasn't really her thing, Kim had to admit that the tea they had there wasn't that bad at all. She took another sip before turning back her full attention to what Sensei was telling them.

"As I already anticipated to you, once complete the idol give whoever possesses it the power to move at will in the time stream and, of course, the possibility to change past events if they wish to. When the Tempus Simia was created and by whom is unknown to us," the old man was speaking staring straight ahead and to neither of them "as we know nothing of the craft and magic that were used to give the item its powers. The first reference we could find of its existence was not too many years after the Roman Empire had been split in two, in the Eastern Roman Empire. Its capital was what today is Istanbul, and the idol was brought to the Emperor as a gift; these are probably the circumstances in which the idol got the Latin name we now know it by - Tempus Simia, the Time Monkey. The fact such a name was given to it seems to indicate that its power was known at least to someone."

Kim frowned. "Could it be that it was already used to change history at some point?"

Sensei smiled. "That is a very good question, Kim Possible. It could very well be – some said that it was already used at least once, some others that it never was. But in the end, if history was actually changed thanks to it, and if so _how_… we cannot know. What we do know, however, is that what has been should never be undone. If it already happened, we should at least make sure it never happens again, don't you think?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Ron managed to mutter – he had burned his tongue with hot tea "besides, I don't think Monkey Fist would want to use it to make things better."

A slight frown appeared on Sensei's otherwise calm face. "Neither do I. Whoever tries to twist the fiber of time and rewrite history at their will should be stopped, and we have all the more reason to do when the one who could gain a such power is someone like Monkey Fist."

"Couldn't agree more," Kim said "so, anything else on the Tempus Simia?"

"Of course," Sensei nodded "as I was saying, after that one mention we know nothing more of that item for several centuries; the next thing we know is that Toshimiru himself had gained possession of the item and decided that he couldn't take the risk of letting anyone gain a such power. Not even the virtuous should have it, for Toshimiru knew that the temptation of using it to fix wrongs in the past could be too much even for the most righteous man, even for himself. He was tempted to destroy it, but he hesitated to do so: had time been changed once, how could he know _what_ the world might have changed into if he did destroy it and restore the time stream to its original course? He could not take a such responsibility on his shoulders. But he could prevent it from being used again. So he took the Lotus Blade and used it to separate the idol's head from its body."

"Yori mentioned something about the head, though – something about the idol clapping when it's close," Kim pointed out.

"Yes. As Toshimiru found out, the mystical power in the item kept the two parts linked to each other; whoever had the item's body could find the head easily if it happened to be nearby. So Toshimiru sent some of his most trusted men to hide the two parts as far away from each other as it was possible. The body was later found and ended up in a museum, where Monkey Fist stole it," he sighed "as for the head, the texts Toshimiru left behind are very vague on the location where it had been hidden, for in his wisdom he knew that it would be for the best that no one could find the head and put the pieces back together."

Now Kim could definitely see what Yori had meant when she had said that if Monkey Fist could guess what the general area where the head was hidden was he would have an advantage: while they would have to search everywhere and lose a lot of time, Monkey Fist would have a way to immediately know if the head of the item was anywhere nearby. "Oh, _great_," she muttered, then a thought his her. "Wait, how do you think Monkey Fist could know where it is, then?"

"We don't know for sure, but we do know that some of Toshimiru's men could have left some information in their own memories: some of those texts were unfortunately lost to Yamanouchi in ancient times. We think Monkey Fist might have found them; he certainly wouldn't have taken the risk of alerting us by stealing the body if he didn't know at least something on where the head is. How clear the indications he has are… that we don't know."

Ron groaned. "Does that mean he could know where to look already?"

"There is no reason to be disheartened," Sensei said encouragingly "we do have enough information on our own. We estimated the area where the head is hidden has to be on the MacDonnell Ranges in Australia. Our most skilled Yamanouchi ninjas will be at your disposal to search the area; we might manage to beat Monkey Fist on time."

"Yeah, some backup would help," Ron seemed a lot more optimistic than he had looked a minute before.

"Sounds great," Kim admitted – she'd rather go alone with Ron and Rufus, really, but they had just one chance, and they couldn't waste it.

"That is not quite correct, Kim Possible. If we fail in Australia, we might get another chance to stop him," Yori's voice came from the entrance of the dojo. Kim and Ron turned to see her stepping inside and bowing at Sensei. "Master Sensei, everything is ready. The students are still training, our best warriors are ready to leave for Australia, and Kayako is already studying the texts to find some reference to the temple in central Africa."

Sensei nodded approvingly. "Very well, Yori."

"Central Africa?" Ron echoed "wait a second, wasn't the head somewhere in Australia a minute ago?"

"As Yori already said, we might have another chance to stop Monkey Fist even if we're not able to keep him from taking the head of the Tempus Simia. Of course, I fervently hope that we'll be able to stop him sooner than that and won't need to resort to that."

"What kind of chance?" Kim asked.

"For the Tempus Simia to regain its power, just putting the two pieces back together is not enough. The Tempus Simia would have to become one again in one specific temple in Africa, precisely at noon. Our most expert student on the matter is already working to locate the temple so that we would know exactly where we'd find Monkey Fist and stop him before he can carry on his purpose."

"Sounds great. We could get Wade to take a look as well, I'm sure he could help finding the temple in Africa."

"That would be very much appreciated. I knew you and Stoppable-san would be of great help to us," Sensei smiled before he got on his feet "but now it's for the best for you to go to Australia. Yori will come with you, and so will some of our most skilled ninjas. Kim Possible, Stoppable-san, Rufus-san," he bowed a little "I wish you good luck."

"I hope we won't need it, but thanks," Kim replied before taking her Kimmunicator "Wade, seems like there's a temple of the Tempus Simia somewhere in Central Africa, and we'll need to know where it exactly is if we'll have to resort to the backup plan."

"I'm on it."

"You rock, Wade," Kim smiled and put the Kimmunicator back in her pocket before turning to Yori "we can get going."

Yori bowed slightly. "Of course. It will be my honour to show you the way."

* * *

Monkey Fist had always been proud of his monkey ninjas' stealth and even prouder than his own, but this time he had all the more reason to be proud: his monkey ninjas were proving themselves capable to elude the attention of the Yamanouchi ninjas. He could not know how many of them were around there, but they certainly were quite a few, for he had already spotted two separate groups of them. They were searching the area for the head, no doubt – those fools really believed they could stop him now that he was so close! Once the power of time was his he would make sure their blasted school was never even built – maybe he'd steal the Lotus Blade from Toshimiru himself after learning from him everything he could, and he'd finish him so that he could never pass down his knowledge to anybody else.

The monkey man allowed himself to smirk at the thought before he focused all his attention on the idol again, walking forward once he was sure the way was clear. Let those fools keep looking! While they were searching blindly, he had the key to find the head of the Tempus Simia in his hands, and should any of them stand in his way… they'd be dealt with, and with finality. He would-

_Clang_.

Monkey Fist immediately froze, and so did the monkey ninjas. They all glanced at the idol in his hands, waiting for it to clap again, it surely had been that to make that noise. Monkey Fist held his breath and took a few steps to his left.

_Clang, clang._

"Yes! We must be close!" he exclaimed in delight as the Tempus Simia clapped again. He turned to his monkey ninjas. "Scatter as far as you can from me, and try to get the Yamanouchi ninjas' attention. We'll meet at the riverbank once you've managed to lose them. Now go!"

The monkey ninjas immediately obeyed, and Monkey Fist turned his full attention back to the idol in his hands. He kept walking forward for a few more feet, and the rhythm of the claps quickly got faster… then it suddenly slowed down. Monkey Fist frowned and glanced around to see a path he hadn't noticed on his left. He turned in that direction, and the Tempus Simia clapped faster. A wide grin spread on Monkey Fist's face as he ran in that direction, his thundering heart even faster than the idol's clapping.

* * *

"Monkeys, monkeys, monkeys! Why does it have to be _monkeys_?" Ron screamed, desperately trying to get one of the monkey ninjas off his back. He eventually dropped on the ground and began rolling, not having noticed that the monkey had already jumped off his back and was now staring at him with a slightly perplexed expression on its face.

"How many of them did he train anyway?" Kim muttered, getting another couple of monkeys off herself and turning to Yori, who was fighting off yet another monkey ninja.

"He must have recruited more monkeys – there weren't so many last time," Yori said, a scowl on her face as she recalled the circumstanced under which she had faced Money Fist's minions for the first time, when they had kidnapped her after stealing the Lotus Blade to lure Stoppable-san into a trap.

"It means he must be close – follow them!" another Yamanouchi ninja shouted as the monkey ninjas began running away. Kim and Yori were about to go after them as well, but Ron's hands shot out to grab them.

"Wait!"

"Ron, there is no time to be scared of monkeys, if we don't move we'll… what is it?" Kim asked, turning to glance at Ron, and she was surprised to see he had his Serious Face on, his grip around her wrist and Yori's still tight.

"I don't think they're going in the right direction," Ron said, turning a little to his left as if looking for something.

Kim frowned, breaking her arm free from his grasp. "What are you talking about? Sure it's the right direction, all the monkeys are retreating-"

"Stoppable-san may be right," Yori cut her off, briefly glancing in the direction where all the monkeys and Yamanouchi ninjas had disappeared "thinking about it, wouldn't it be too easy if they led us straight to their master?"

"Well…" Kim hesitated, but she did see Yori's point. They were trained as ninjas and thus highly intelligent, so why would they lead them to their master so easily?

"Besides," Yori was going on, intently staring at Ron "I think Stoppable-san _felt_ something. The Tempus Simia is an idol filled with mystical power, and we know the two parts of the item react to each other. Stoppable-san is sensitive to Mystical Monkey Power, so if the two parts are close… did you feel something, Stoppable-san?"

"Uh… yeah," Ron scratched his head, glancing around "I felt… funny. Like I had just passed through a cold shower, but not really cold, just… did you feel that too, buddy?" he asked, and Rufus nodded excitedly.

"Hu-uh!"

"Then you have to focus, Stoppable-san," Yori's hands grasped his, much to Kim's annoyance "we need to know what the actual direction is. If the two parts of the Tempus Simia are close enough to each other to react like that, Monkey Fist must be close to his goal! We have to stop him before it's too late!"

Ron seemed a bit unsure. He shot a glance to Kim, who just shrugged. "Hey, you're the one with monkey magic. Just give it a try, Ron," she said, trying her best to sound encouraging.

"Okay. Uh… I'm supposed to behave all mystical and monkey-ish now, right?" he asked.

Despite the pressing situation, Yori chuckled. "This is so like you, Stoppable-san. But do not worry, all you have to do is being yourself. Close your eyes and focus on the source."

"Ah. Cool," Ron smiled weakly before he shut his eyes – on his shoulder, Rufus did the same – and took a few hesitant steps to his left. For a few moments nothing happened and Ron was about to give up already, then he felt it: an odd sensation that felt like a mild electric shock and that made his hair stand on end as he turned to a path which led across a small river. His eyes snapped open. "That way!" he exclaimed, while on his shoulder Rufus chattered excitedly and pointed to the same direction.

Kim and Yori barely shared a glance before they both began running in the direction Ron had been pointed at, ignoring his yells for them to wait – they had to be quick, was all Kim could think as they ran, if they got there too late-

"You're too late, you fools!" a maniacal, high-pitched laugh reached Kim's ears just as they abruptly stopped running in font of what looked like a cave's entry and glanced up. Monkey Fist was standing on top of the rock formation above the cave, sneering down at them, both parts of the Tempus Simia cradled in his arms.

"No!" Yori shouted, immediately leaping forward to reach Monkey Fist before Kim could say anything or even _think_. Monkey Fist merely laughed at Yori's desperate pounce before his left hand reached to take something from his gi – something resembling two small, ping-pong balls – and Kim realized what it was in a split of second. She tried to shout a warning to Yori and leap forward herself, but it was too late already: Monkey Fist quickly threw the smoke bombs on the rocks he was standing onto, and Kim couldn't see anything at all for a few moments.

She could only hear Yori's gasp as she clearly failed to hit the monkey man and fell on the ground, and nothing else. When the smoke finally cleared, Kim saw Yori crouched on the ground, her head lowered. Monkey Fist was nowhere to be seen. Kim opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word Ron finally stumbled beside her.

"Couldn't you… wait a moment…?" he wheezed, still trying to catch his breath "so… what happened?"

"We… failed, Stoppable-san," Yori said quietly as she slowly got back on her feet and staring straight ahead with blank eyes, as though she couldn't quite believe it "_I_ failed. He's gone, and the head with him. The Tempus Simia is now in his hands, and so is its power."

"Hey, it's not over yet," Kim said as optimistically as she could, taking a step forward and putting a hand on her shoulder "he still has one more step to go before he can use the Time Monkey, and we'll be waiting for him just around that corner."

"Yeah, she's right," Ron added, getting back on his feet a little shakily – man, he was used to running, but that had been even worse than usual – and giving her a broad grin "we won't let him put that ugly thing back together. Right, KP?"

"Of course not."

Yori glanced at both of them, then she gave them a grateful smile. "You're right, I shouldn't lose hope. The Tempus Simia may be in his hands, but it's still powerless. We can still stop him."

"See, that's the spirit," Kim said before reaching to take the Kimmunicator "Wade, we got here too late and lost him. Tell me you have good news."

"Sure, good news coming in," Wade said with a shrug "I got in touch with the Yamanouchi expert, and we've found the right coordinates of the Tempus Simia temple in central Africa. You and the Yamanouchi ninjas can get there right away and keep it guarded – if Monkey Fist can't put the idol back together there exactly at noon, the magic won't work. You have all the time you want to reach the temple, over there it's way past noon and he'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Kim smiled. "You rock, Wade! We're on our way," she exclaimed before turning back to Yori "see? It's not over yet!"

Yori seemed to be feeling much better. She bowed slightly. "I see. Thank you for your help, to all of you."

"No big," was Kim's reply "let's go looking for the others and let them know we just won ourselves a little trip to Africa."

* * *

As he interrupted the communication, Wade couldn't help but frown a little. That sounded serious, a lot more than anything else Monkey Fist had done. It wasn't like he didn't trust Kim and Ron to handle it, but… well, it wouldn't hurt having a back-up plan should something go wrong, right?

Sure it wouldn't, Wade told himself as he began searching for something among his files, something he knew he had stuffed there somewhere: a small project he had been working into with Justine Flanner's assistance. It was supposed to be something more similar to her old kinomatic continuum disruptor, but if that thing was capable to create a tear in the space-time continuum… could he be able to fix it a little so that it wouldn't just create a tear, but a real _passage_ through time and space, enough for people to pass through? Could he make some kind of actual… time machine out of it?

_Well, there is just one way to find out._

Good point, Wade thought. He smiled a little and cracked his knuckles before his fingers began flying on the keyboard. So much work to do and so little time to do it, but he found himself enjoying the challenge.


	3. Changing History

_A/N: this chapter gets a tad darker than the previous ones. And by that I mean that someone dies in it. It won't be a very dark fic, really, but this won't be the last character death to happen in it. Just thought I'd warn beforehand._

_

* * *

_

"Is this all they could think of? How pathetic. I was under the impression they thought higher of my skills," Monkey Fist said somewhat disapprovingly as he observed the scene from a distance, perched on the highest branch of a tree – at least a dozen hooded Yamanouchi ninjas were standing around the temple, guarding it. Monkey Fist could spot Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable as well, setting up a fire now that night was drawing closer. Talking to them was the Yamanouchi student he had already confronted more than once, but whose name he didn't bother to remember – she was of no importance to him after all.

He was more interested on the detail that would grant him success – the hoods that most Yamanouchi ninjas were wearing. It was a rather fortunate thing that so many of them followed the old tradition of keeping their faces concealed while out on missions, even those that didn't involve secrecy – otherwise, his plan would have been impossible to put in action. Monkey Fist allowed himself to smirk one last time before he quickly climbed down the three to join his monkey ninjas below.

"They're here already, as I expected. You know the plan," he glanced at two monkey ninjas in particular, who were carrying what looked like two bundles of cloth on their backs "I expect you to handle those items with the utmost care. Failures won't be tolerated. Do you understand?" he said sternly.

The monkey ninjas immediately nodded. "Very well," was all Monkey Fist said before he began walking through the jungle, followed by his monkeys. Just as he had estimated, they reached the temple by nightfall; the fire was lit – judging by the scent in the air, someone was using it to make some supper – but Monkey Fist didn't think for a second that more than a few Yamanouchi ninjas would be just sitting around the fire: most of them had to be guarding the temple. They wouldn't be distracted from their tasks so easily: that was more likely something Ron Stoppable would do. The monkey man grimaced, as always when he thought of that boy, then he gestured for his monkey ninjas to scatter around.

They obeyed, stealthy as always, and Monkey Fist could only hope they'd succeed to stay hidden without being spotted until the right moment. The Yamanouchi ninjas were well trained, but so were his monkeys… and aside from the ones carrying the two parts of the Tempus Simia with them, none of them was wearing a gi: even if someone spotted one of them, they'd most likely think they were just wild monkeys, whose number certainly wasn't small in that area.

_They will serve their purpose when the moment will come, as they always do. But now it is your turn to make your move, and you cannot allow yourself any kind of mistake._

_No, no mistakes. Not this time._

Monkey Fist shut his eyes and drew in a few deep breaths before his eyes snapped open again and he only focused on the task at hand, forgetting about anything else as he began moving closer to the temple, careful to not make the slightest sound, all his senses alert, ready to his should he hear anyone getting close. Passing unnoticed close to a ninjas was one of the hardest tasks he could think of, let alone sneaking upon them, but he was a trained ninja himself and he had a great advantage: not only he knew where his foes were while they had no idea he was there already, but they also did not expect him to try taking any kind of action that soon since they knew that the only moment he could put the idol back together to have its magic working would be precisely at noon, not one moment before or after.

In a way, they were right: he would not take any kind of action yet… but he would set the scene for the moment he _would_. A smirk curled his lips for a moment, but it immediately froze as he head a faint sound, so faint that no untrained ear would have heard it. He immediately leapt backwards and behind some bushes before quickly climbing on a nearby tree. He crouched on a branch and looked down to see a Yamanouchi ninja walking on the spot he had been standing only moments before; he was wearing a hood – Monkey Fist assumed he was a man by the height – and while he was moving as silently and secretively as all ninjas, it wasn't hard to tell he wasn't really nervous, nor he expected an attack. He probably didn't think Monkey Fist would be so rash to attack him so close to the others, and not so much sooner than the moment he's have his only chance to successfully putting the idol back together; he had to assume he wouldn't act until the last moment, in an attempt to catch them by surprise. All in all, that reasoning did make sense.

But it was also dead wrong.

Monkey Fist shifted his weight, ready to leap off the branch and onto the ninja the moment he was right beneath him. He knew he could make no mistakes: if he failed to stun him right away, if he managed to fight him, if he shouted, his plan would fail before it even started. He was going to have to be more careful, more efficient than he had never been. All of Monkey Fist's muscles tensed as the ninja took another step forward. Just another step, he thought, just another…

_Now_.

Monkey Fist leapt, as silent as the shadows surrounding him, but he could not keep the branch for creaking ever so slightly as he did. It was a faint, faint sound, but it was enough for the ninja to tense and shift to his side. The blow that had been meant to his the base of his neck only hit the point where it met the shoulder, and while it was violent enough to leave the ninja breathless and unable to make a sound that would only last for a few instants, and Monkey Fist knew it. Before his opponent had any time to even breathe, the monkey man reached to grab his neck. It was his intention to apply the right pressure to the right point to make him pass out, only a moment would have been enough, but the ninja tried to jerk away from his grasp and began to counter attack, and Monkey Fist acted out by instinct.

Maybe it wouldn't have been necessary acting as he did; his simian hands had slipped just a fraction on the ninja's neck, and it would have probably been possible making him pass out before he could fight back and alert anyone… but the moment he felt his grip slipping was enough for the blackest terror to invade him, to make him fear his best chance would be spoiled, and then he didn't stop to think and a fraction of second was all it took. His hands went to grab the each side of the ninja's face, and twisted.

There was a faint cracking sound, easily covered by the jungle's nightly sounds, as the man's neck snapped like a twig. He stilled for an instant, then his body went limp, and Monkey Fist leant it down slowly to not make any unnecessary sound before drawing in a long breath, shutting his eyes. Everything had happened in just a few instants, almost too quickly for Monkey Fist's mind to catch up. He drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes, staring down at the lifeless body on the ground.

_It wouldn't have been necessary to kill him._

_I had no choice. I could not take risks._

_You know what this means, don't you?_

Monkey Fist clenched his jaw. Yes, he knew what that meant: from that moment on, there would be no turning back.

* * *

"Was everything alright, Hirotaka?" the voice – a woman's – reached his ears the moment he stepped in the small clearing in front of the temple. He turned to see that the Yamanouchi ninja who was standing right in front of the entrance of the temple was looking straight at him. That she had to be a woman was clear by her slim frame, but he could not see her face, for she was wearing a hood… just as the one he had taken from the ninja he had just killed, together with the gi. He was young, Monkey Fist had been almost horrified to notice, so _young_; he didn't look one day past his twenties at most. And his name, he now knew, must have been Hirotaka.

_He was just a nuisance to be dealt with. Once I've reshaped time to fit my wishes, his death will have never happened._

The thought helped him to chase the thought of those blank eyes staring up at him without seeing anything only minutes before. Of course, he would have been delighted had it been Stoppable in his place, but… oh, what was wrong with him? He had been ready to physically destroy whoever tried to stand on his way more than once, and he had known for a long time that some casualties could happen on his quest to become the Ultimate Monkey Master. What had happened had been unfortunate, yes, but it had been necessary.

"Yes. There was nothing out of the ordinary," he finally replied, taking great care to not let his accent show as it usually did when he spoke in Japanese. He was inwardly thankful of how the cloth on his face muffled his voice, just as much as he was grateful that the darkness would mostly hide his eyes from sight. They were the only part of him that he could not conceal, and they could give him away dreadfully easily: they had nothing resembling Eastern features in neither colour nor shape.

"Good," the other ninja seemed relieved before glancing to her left. Monkey Fist followed her gaze to see she was glancing at the fire around which a few Yamanouchi ninjas were eating along with Team Possible as their companions kept guarding the temple. Once again, it didn't surprise Monkey Fist too much that they weren't all focused on guarding the temple's entrance: in their mind, he had no reason to act before noon. All the better for him. "Have you already eaten?" the other ninja was asking.

Monkey Fist couldn't even remember when he had eaten the last time, focused on his quest as he was, and now that he thought about it he was quite hungry – but to eat he would have to take off his hood, and that was most certainly not an option. He wouldn't even take the risk of approaching the fire around which Team Possible and that annoying young ninja were: the risk they could somehow recognize him was too great, and he would be darned if he let his best chance be ruined because he could not endure a little hunger. "Yes, I have," he replied.

"Would you mind guarding the entrance in my behalf while I eat, then? It won't take more than a few minutes, and I'm not sure I can be as sharp as I'd like through the night if I don't."

That was just perfect! It was more luck than Monkey Fist could have possibly hoped for – fate was finally smiling upon him at long last! It took him some effort not to laugh in triumph. Instead, he just bowed slightly. "It will be my honour," he just said, barely able to contain his excitement. Aside from the minor setback with the young man in the jungle, this was turning out to be easier than expected. Now he only had to make sure his monkey ninjas would do their part without messing up, and be careful to not get any kind of attention on himself that could result with someone noticing his eyes were certainly not the eyes of a Japanese man.

He did, however, allow himself to smile faintly as he watched the ninja stepping towards the fire and leaving him to guard the entrance of the temple before he forced himself to not lower his guard too soon or make the mistake of assuming everything would be easy: on the contrary, the hard part had just started and now he would need to be extremely careful. Starting from now.

Monkey Fist knew he had very little time before the ninja came back to guard the entrance, so he had to act quickly: he might not get another chance. After quickly glancing around to make sure nobody was observing him – no, no one was, and why should they after all? – he crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot three times on the ground. He paused for a few seconds, then he tapped it on the ground twice more. That was the signal: now he could only hope that the monkey ninjas carrying the two parts of the Tempus Simia had seen him from the jungle and would manage to get past any ninja who could be in their way.

He didn't have to wait too much: after only a few minutes – the longest, most unnerving minutes of his life during which he feared more than once that they wouldn't make it in to get there before the Yamanouchi ninja who had been guarding the entrance would finish eating and come back – he was immensely relieved to hear the faintest rustle behind him, followed by a tug at the gi he was wearing. He glanced around to make sure nobody had noticed anything, not turning to his monkeys to not give them away, then he slowly took a step to his left to allow the two monkeys inside the temple while keeping them shielded from sight. The small creatures quickly scurried in with the priceless items they were carrying, and a wide grin appeared Monkey Fist's concealed face, a delighted chortle threatening to leave him.

Now that his monkey ninjas were inside, they would stay hidden there with the two pieces of the Tempus Simia until the next day, until he could seize the right moment to rush inside before any of those fools could stop him and put together the two parts of the idol precisely at noon; they would expect him to attack from the outside, and none of them would suspect he could be among them already… not if he played well his part, that was it. From that moment on, everything depended on his ability to fool them until the very last instant. It was vital to his plan, and he refused to even take into consideration the idea he could fail, that they could see through him before he could put his plan in motion. No, he would succeed, he was certain of it; nothing and no one could deny him his destiny any longer.

* * *

"If he doesn't show before dawn," Yori was saying to Kim and Ron as they sat around the fire "we'll hide any evidence of our presence here and wait for him hidden in the jungle surrounding the temple. As soon as he tried to approach, we'll attack."

"And what if he doesn't show up at all tomorrow?" Kim asked.

"In that case we'll just keep guarding the temple while you and Stoppable-san try to track him down. He must not be allowed to succeed," Yori clenched her jaw "if he does, everything would be lost."

"Hey, don't worry – we won't even let him get close to the temple. Right, KP?"

"Right," Kim nodded before turning to Yori "you don't have to worry, we'll be ready for him."

As he stood against a tree only a few feet from them, pretending to be guarding the southern side of the clearing where the temple was, Monkey Fist smirked to himself. Those fools! They didn't even suspect how close he was, and thus they would be completely caught by surprise when he took action… and then, the power of time itself would be his to use. The fact they would hide on the borders of the clearing at dawn fit perfectly in his plan: that way he wouldn't have to be too close to any of them, which lessened the chances any of them could notice by taking a look at his eyes or observing his movements too closely – he had been careful to learn the stances and patterns Yamanouchi ninjas used, just in case, but one could never be too sure – that he was not Hirotaka.

Maybe he wouldn't have been able to keep his masquerade going for long had anyone decided to share more than just a few words with him, but nobody had so far. Focused as they were on their task none of them apparently felt like talking, and that worked just perfectly for Monkey Fist. For a moment he wondered whether he had hidden the body well enough, for it would be a disaster if someone found it before noon, but he didn't think they could find it so easily… not unless they went looking for it, and they wouldn't as long as they believed he was still among them. And for his plan to work, he needed them to believe it.

Just for a little while longer.

* * *

"Still no sign of him," Kim said a little impatiently, hidden behind some bushes. While she was used to fight, staying crouched for hours wasn't exactly something her body took so well, apparently. She had been crouched like them since five in the morning or so, and she didn't even want to count the hours that had passed – at least Ron was taking it better than her, she thought with a smirk as she turned to see him sleeping soundly by her side.

"Patience," came Yori's voice, so low that she could barely hear it "it's almost noon now, there are only minutes left. If he wants to make his attempt today, he could show up any moment."

"If he _doesn't_ show up to be a good villain be defeated, he had better start running," Kim muttered, shifting slightly on her aching knees.

Not very far from them, from the top of a tree whose branches shielded him from view but allowed him to see the temple, Monkey Fist was counting the seconds that still separated him from what he knew would be the turning point, the greatest moment of his whole life. His patience was wearing thin, much like Kim's, but he had also a much more valid reason to be restless and anxious – where were his monkey ninjas? Why weren't they showing up yet? He had given them very clear instructions, telling them to attack a few minutes before noon. It still was not too late, but he was starting to get worried. Could it be that something had happened, that they had been caught by some Yamanouchi ninja somewhere in the forest and couldn't make it in time?

The mere idea made him scowl, but he forced himself to stay calm. The two parts of the Tempus Simia were in the temple already, with two of his monkeys; even without his other monkeys ninjas attacking to distract his enemies, he might still be able to get inside the temple and do what needed to be done if he acted fast. Of course it wouldn't be easy, for all the Yamanouchi ninjas would be after him at once the second he left his position and they realized what he was trying to do. But no matter – he was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, so he could-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud screech that caused him to wince, his heart jumping in his throat as he realized that his monkey ninjas were finally there, ready to act as a distraction. The final act of the plan was finally in motion.

Monkey Fist immediately leapt off the three, barely able to remind himself he was going to have to use his enemies' moves and stances as he made his way closer to the temple during the battle while he pretended to be helping fighting off his own monkey ninjas and rushed in the clearing where the battle had already begun. If his monkey ninjas had recognized him – if they hadn't, Monkey Fist could be proud of how accurate his little act was – they didn't let it show and behaved just the way he had instructed them: the monkey man had just one second to take a look at the battle and smirk to himself as he heard Ron Stoppable shrieking before one of the monkeys attacked him. It was an attack he could easily block, and he did, staring straight in the monkey's eyes as he did.

He saw recognition in his minion's eyes, and he nodded ever so slightly. The rest was going to be easier, he thought as he kept pretending to be battling the monkey ninja, both of them getting closer and closer to the entrance of the temple with each move while Monkey Fist kept glancing at the sun – it was almost in the right position, and in a minute he would be close enough to the entrance to run inside before anyone could stop him. That was just perfect.

On the other side of the clearing, Kim was back flipping to avoid a blow before delivering a swift kick that sent the monkey ninja tumbling on the ground, giving her a moment to catch her breath. She took advantage of it to take a quick look at the battle going on in front of the temple: each Yamanouchi ninja was battling at least one or two monkey ninjas, Yori handling three of them not too far from her while Ron was apparently trying to keep any monkey away from him by threateningly waving a branch in the air. She frowned.

"Where is Monkey Fist?" she asked aloud, stepping aside to avoid the monkey ninja Yori's kick had just sent flying in her direction "he should be the first in line here!"

Yori opened her mouth to say something, maybe to suggest he was waiting for a chance to sneak in the temple in hopes his monkeys would be enough to keep them from stopping him, but before a word left her a loud, triumphant laugh reached everyone's ears, causing all the ninjas to turn to the temple. Yori immediately caught sight of what looked just like a black cloth – the hood they traditionally used to conceal their face during missions, she realized – and she suddenly knew how Monkey Fist had fooled them all.

"No!" she cried out, immediately dashing for the temple's entrance, as did all the other Yamanouchi ninjas. The monkey ninjas seemed to have a different plan, though, for they immediately stood in front of the entrance to keep them outside for a few more instants. And a few instants was all they lasted – having comprehended what was going on, the neither the Yamanouchi ninjas nor Kim held back one bit, knowing that sparing their strength was no longer an option: they had to get through them, and they had to get through them _now_. The sun would be in the right position in only a few instants, Kim notice with pang of something that was too much like panic for her tastes.

She and Yori were the first ones to dash inside the temple, only to be greeted by Monkey Fist's high, insane laughter. "You're too late, you pieces of refuse, too late!"

Kim had barely enough time to see him – he was standing above them with the head of the Tempus Simia in his hands, the idol's body sitting on some kind of stone altar on which the only sunlight of the room fell – before he put the idol's head on its body, and next thing she knew was that… something had hit her, like the shock wave following an explosion. Both her and Yori were sent crashing against a wall, while most of the Yamanouchi ninjas who were just now gaining entrance were pushed back outside along with the monkey ninjas they were still fighting. Kim groaned and glanced up again to see that something had appeared in mid air behind Monkey Fist, some kind of black swirl that looked like a… a _hole_ in reality itself.

"I bid you farewell – we shall not meet again, for in _my_ future there is no room for your existence!" Monkey Fist exclaimed, raising the idol over his head in triumph.

"NO!" the scream that left her was so loud that Yori's throat almost hurt, but she didn't even take notice – all she could think was that if she didn't stop him now, everything would be lost. Monkey Fist merely laughed at her attempt and leapt in the swirling portal. Yori almost made it to jump in it right after him, almost – but the portal sealed and disappeared barely an instant too early, and she simply fell on the ground. She did not try to soften her fall, nor she made any move to get up after she hit the ground – she simply lay there, her forehead resting on the cold stone floor, her eyes squeezed shut as if seeing nothing and nobody could somehow soothe that horrible sense of failure, the knowledge that… as long as they kept existing, she could not look in anyone's eyes without feeling like she had failed them.

It was over. It was all over. They had failed – _she_ had failed. Failed to protect the Tempus Simia, failed to guard the temple, failed to keep Monkey Fist from gaining the power of time. And now there was nothing they could do to change that.

"KP?" Ron's voice didn't reach Yori's ears, but it did snap Kim from her numbness – much like the Yamanouchi ninjas, all she could do now was staring either at Yori or at the altar where Monkey Fist had been standing only seconds before, too stunned by the realization of what had just happened to actually think of what they could do now… as long as there would _be_ a now.

"Kim?" Ron insisted, shaking her gently – he hadn't managed to get anywhere near the entrance before that moment, and thus he had no idea of what had just happened in there… though he already knew it could only be bad news "what happened?"

"We…" Kim found it difficult to say, _so_ difficult, as if saying it would shatter the reassuring thought that it could have been just a dream, that it was not true. "We… _lost_."

* * *

"I've won! At long last, I've _won_!"

Monkey Fist's laughter greeted the monkey ninjas as they – following their master's instructions – reached the hideout he had told them to get into once they got away from the temple. The monkeys probably should have been glad that their master was happy, still there was something in his laughter that made them all uncomfortable. They uneasily glanced at each other while Monkey Fist kept rambling to himself, still holding the Tempus Simia to his chest, only to abruptly stop as he noticed them.

"Here you are, finally! Look!" he laughed again as he shoved the idol under the closest monkey's nose "isn't it magnificent?"

The monkey ninjas couldn't exactly see what in that small stone object that certainly didn't look like any of them could be considered as such, but they had long since learned not to wrong their master, so they just nodded. Their nods were a little too hurried to be really believable, but Monkey Fist didn't even take notice: he was far too busy observing the item with a huge, insane grin on his face.

"Of course, intelligent as you may be, what I can accomplish with this goes far beyond your comprehension," he said "I could shape history to fit my will, learn the art of Tai Shin Pek Kwar from the greatest masters-" he trailed of for an instant, then he chuckled as if he had just realized he had said something foolish. "No, there would be no point in that – what is there they could teach me that I don't know already?" he asked aloud "nothing! None of them but Toshimiru possessed Mystical Monkey Power as I do, and not even he would be anything but a pale shade of a warrior in front of the Ultimate Monkey Master!"

He let out another excited laugh before he cleared his throat and forced himself to calm down. "Do make me some tea," he finally said, turning to his monkey ninjas. Now that the Tempus Simia was in his hands, he needed to clear his mind and carefully ponder his next move. He was no fool, and he knew all too well how a simple mistake could alter history in exactly the opposite way he hoped. He carefully put the Tempus Simia on the ground and sat cross-legged in front of it, a thoughtful frown on his face.

Tempting as it was getting very far back in time to reshape history itself, he realized that changing the world's order too soon could backfire on him. He could recall someone mentioning to him how his grandfather's older brother and his sons had died in one of the London bombings sometime in 1940: had it never happened, Maurice Fiske would have never had the title and family castle and Monkey Fist's own father probably would have never met his future wife years later. And Monkey Fist knew that, going further back in time, there had to be more of such coincidences in his family line. For all he knew, changing history too much could result with him never being born – all that was needed was that any of his ancestors died beforehand or never met the person they'd marry. If that happened he would fade into non-existence, and he certainly wasn't going to take that risk, no matter how slim such chances might be.

"I can't go too far back in time without risks," Monkey Fist murmured to no one in particular, his eyes narrowing a little in thought as he kept staring at the idol. That being the case, he reasoned, the most sensible thing to do would be getting back to a time when he was born already and change the past so that he could claim the title of Ultimate Monkey Master, so that Team Possible could never stand in his way. Yes, that was it – he would go back to the day when Ron Stoppable had stolen part of the power rightfully belonging to _him_, and he would help his past self to kill him. Or maybe he would get further back to kill Stoppable before he ever had anything to do with him, he and that rodent: that way he wouldn't be in his way anymore, nor he would later be in Yamanouchi to stop him from taking the Lotus Blade.

The memory of the Lotus Blade falling down that chasm, forever lost to him after he could hold it for only a few hours, made his anger flare up. Hadn't the boy and that annoying Yamanouchi ninja been there, he would have long since taken over the world, he would have long since claimed his rightful title as the Monkey Master! Stoppable couldn't wrap his mind around the misplaced honour that Mystical Monkey power was to someone like him! And then they had kept him from fulfilling the prophecy that would have made him unstoppable! Monkey Fist gritted his teeth in fury.

"Those imbeciles, constantly trying to get in my way!" he bellowed to the empty room "I'll erase them from history, the annoying pests they are! Had I _known_ what a nuisance they would turn out to be-" he abruptly trailed off, his eyes widening at the sudden thought.

"Had I _known_…" he repeated almost hesitantly, then he smiled – an insane smile that would have made anyone take a step back hadn't he been alone in the room "yes! Yes, this is it!" he exclaimed. How could he not think that before? It was so simple! After all, hadn't he asked for Team Possible's help to retrieve the fourth jade monkey, they would have never even met, and Ron Stoppable wouldn't have been there to steal Mystical Monkey Power and destroy the four statues, nor he could have stopped him from taking the Lotus Blade, or from following Frederick to the stars, or… or… hadn't it been for _them_, he would have become the Ultimate Monkey Master years before! That was he had to change!

He would go back in the past and warn his younger self not to contact Team Possible, ever. He would tell him where the four jade monkeys were so that he would spare time, tell him everything he had learned until that moment… and while he was at it, he would probably warn him to seek a genetist that was _not_ DNAmy to mutate his hands and feet. With that knowledge at his disposal and knowing what mistakes he had to avoid, Monkey Fist was sure nothing would stop him from fulfilling his destiny. Once he was done in the past and went back to the present, he was certain he would find himself being the Ultimate Monkey Master, having already used his powers to shape the world to fit his view.

And neither Team Possible nor the Yamanouchi ninjas were going to be part of that world.

The thought made him laugh in delight as he got on his feet again and grabbed the Tempus Simia, holding it in front of his eyes with a twisted grin, barely turning to glance at the monkey ninja that was getting back in the room, holding a tray with a cup of tea on it. "The tea will have to wait – I have so much more in my hands now," he said. He allowed himself to smirk once more in anticipation of the present he was going to return into shortly after – could he even think that fallacious concepts such as 'before' and 'after' had any reason to be for him now? – before he shut his eyes and held up the idol, focusing with all his might on the time and place where he wanted to be.

The monkey ninja, who had put the tray on the floor, gave a surprised squeal and took a nervous step back as a swirl of darkness just appeared in front of its master. The small animal couldn't even begin to realize what was going on, for just an instant later his master had stepped into the swirl, which closed and disappeared with him, leaving the room empty aside from the monkey and the smoking cup of tea on the floor.

* * *

Their return to Mount Yamanouchi was grim. It would have been anything but happy in any case, but the fact they were bringing back with them Hirotaka's body – which they had eventually found without his gi behind a few bushes after realizing that he was missing – made it so much worse than anything else Kim could remember. She could barely believe that Hirotaka was gone: she had barely known him when he had been in Middleton the previous year, but the thought someone she knew had died still stunned her. Nobody had ever died in any mission she had involved with, and now she couldn't help but feel responsible.

Kim clenched her teeth as they walked up the mountain, anger mixing with the sorrow and numbness. She knew that Monkey Fist was dangerous, but she wouldn't have expected him to actually murder someone in cold blood only to steal their clothes and make his plan work. She was sure that was something other villains – Drakken, Shego, Dementor, Killigan, Motor Ed, the Seniors – wouldn't have done, not while there was not even any need to kill him, not while stunning him and tying him up would have been enough. The thought Monkey Fist had stepped so low made her sick, and enraged to herself for not being able to stop that death from happening.

There was a rational part of her that knew she was nowhere close to Hirotaka when Monkey Fist had killed him, that there was nothing she could have done to stop him, but she still felt guilty. Not to mention that now that he had the Tempus Simia, they might fade into non-existence in any moment – hell knew what he was planning to do now that he had the power to travel in time – and there was nothing they could do about it anymore; they had lost any chance they had to stop Monkey Fist beforehand. How could she not realize Monkey Fist had been close to them the whole time? She felt so stupid for not realizing it!

"Kim?" she heard Ron's voice the same moment she felt his hand grabbing hers and squeezing gently "it's not your fault, you know. You did your best."

"My best wasn't good enough," Kim said bitterly. Until hours before she would have never thought it would come the day she's have to say it, but now she couldn't think of any way they could fix their failure. Not only one of them had died, but Monkey Fist had gained a power they had no hope to stand against. How can you stop someone who's travelling through time and is ready to change history? All that was left for them to do was waiting for the world as they knew it to disappear, and them with it.

This time, she could do _nothing_. Not anymore.

Kim swallowed and looked at Yori; she was speaking to Sensei, her head hanging low, her gaze fixed on the ground. Her hair was shielding her face from their view like a black curtain, and judging by how her usually collected voice seemed to be on the verge of breaking as she had to explain how Monkey Fist had tricked them and gotten away with the idol it wasn't hard for Kim to guess she had to be absolutely mortified… maybe even more than she was.

"KP, you shouldn't speak like that," Ron was trying again to make her feel better "he… got lucky, that's all. I'm sure-" he was cut off by a sudden beeping sound – the Kimmunicator. Kim could feel her heart heaving in her chest as she took it and held it in front of her eyes; she still hadn't had the courage to tell Wade that all was lost. She sighed.

"Wade, I would have called you soon. I don't know how to say this, but-"

"You'll tell me everything later, Kim," Wade said, typing something on his keyboard so quickly that his fingers were a blur "I'm picking up anomalies in the time-space continuum. Monkey Fist must have just used the Tempus Simia."

Kim could feel her insides knotting up; that was it, he was probably up to do something that would forever alter history, and they could do nothing to stop him. "I'm sorry, Wade," she said weakly, not even aware of the fact all the Yamanouchi ninjas, Master Sensei included, were currently staring at her "he tricked us. I-"

"Got it! He's back in the seventies!" Wade exclaimed "and looks like he's in England… in his castle?" he paused to check something "yeah, those are the coordinates. He's probably trying to give his past self some tips for the future or something like that. You've got to hurry up before he manages to do too much damage."

"Uh… Wade?" Ron waved his hand in front of the Kimmunicator's screen "maybe you didn't get what happened, but-"

"I know, I know, Monkey Fist got the Time Monkey," Wade cut him off "but it doesn't mean it's over. The game is still open."

Kim felt her heart beating somewhere in her throat. Could it be that…? "You mean we could still stop him?" she asked, barely daring to hope it could be true. She heard the Yamanouchi ninjas whispering to each other as if from a great distance.

"Sure, all you have to do is following him in whatever time he is and keep him from doing… whatever he tries to do," Wade explained "I thought that we shouldn't be unprepared in case something went wrong, so I dug back an old project I worked onto with Justine Flanner a while back. Remember her kinomatic continuum disruptor? We made a slightly different one, but then we forgot about it. I modified it so that it could create a passage through time and space instead of just a tear like the old one."

Kim could barely dare to believe her ears. "Are you saying that you got us a _time machine_?" she muttered.

"Well, more or less. It still has some flaws and I don't think it can carry back and forth in time more than two people at once – two people _and_ a naked mole rat, Rufus, don't worry – but I'm working on it. But for now, it should be enough to follow Monkey Fist and then get back to the present. He leaves a trace of his passage when he travels through time and space, and I can use it to track him down."

"You rock, Wade!" Kim exclaimed, her smile suddenly so wide that her cheeks hurt. She turned to Yori and Sensei. "Did you hear that? It's not over yet! We can get back to yesterday and stop Monkey Fist before he kills Hirotaka and-"

"Uh, Kim?" Wade cut her off, sounding rather unsettled "are you saying that Monkey Fist… killed someone?"

She nodded grimly. "He did. Remember Hirotaka, the one who came in Middleton while Ron was here?"

The boy seemed to pale slightly. "Sure. But how… why…?"

"He killed him so that he could disguise himself as a Yamanouchi ninja. But now that we can't stop before it happens…!"

"You can't," Wade's voice came from the Kimmunicator.

Kim's smile vanished. "What?"

"Hey, why not?" Ron asked "I thought you got us a time machine!"

"I told you, this still needs some work," Wade said "getting you back to the present is easy, but it can't get you back in the time stream unless someone else – in this case, Monkey Fist – travels to that same place and in that same time. Remember what I told you that he leaves a trace when he passes through the time stream?"

"Yeah?"

"That trace is exactly what allows the time machine to work. I'm working on fixing that, but for now you can only follow him wherever and whenever he goes. Unless he gets back to yesterday, and I don't think he will… that's something you can't change. For now," he added quickly "I'll be working on that."

"Oh," Kim bit her lower lip before glancing up at Sensei "I'm sorry…"

Sensei shook his head. "Don't worry, Kim Possible. If your young friend will be able to give us a chance to save Hirotaka, he'll make us happy. If he won't, we'll soothe our sorrow with the knowledge he died as a honourable warrior. But what matters now is stopping Monkey Fist."

Kim nodded. "We will," she said "Wade, when can we go?"

"Any moment," was the reply "I connected the time machine to the Kimmunicator. I'll activate it, and the Kimmunicator will open the passage. To get back, all you have to do is reversing – you'll be back in the present, and in Middleton. I won't be able to contact you in while you're in another time, so… good luck."

"You rock, Wade," Kim smiled "ready to go, Ron? Rufus?"

"Sure!"

"Hu-uh!"

"Wait," Yori – who had followed the whole scene in silence – suddenly spoke up as she turned to Sensei. "Sensei, I ask for the permission to go with Kim Possible and Stoppable-san. Let me put a remedy to my mistake."

Sensei smiled at her a little sadly. "I think you're putting too much blame on yourself, Yori," he said quietly, and she lowered her head "but if you're so inclined…"

"I'm afraid it's not possible," Wade said almost apologetically "I'm not sure there is enough energy to bring three people, plus Rufus, back to our time. There was no time to do a test drive, so… we can't tale the risk. I'll work on that too, I promise."

"It is alright, my young friend. You've already done so much," Sensei said before turning back to Kim and Ron "good luck, to both of you. And thank you."

"We'll stop him, I promise," Kim said, more to Yori than to Sensei, and the young ninja gave her a grateful smile and a nod. Kim held up the Kimmunicator. "Okay, Wade, get us whenever Monkey Fist went."

* * *

It was like passing through a door, plain and simple: Monkey Fist didn't feel anything unusual after stepping in the portal. After what felt like just an instant from when he had stepped inside the portal, he was stepping out of it and in a place that certainly was not his hideout in Africa. Monkey Fist smiled as he set foot on a stone bridge that led to the entrance to a very familiar castle. He couldn't be sure he was exactly _when_ he wished to be – but why should he think he was in any other time but the one he had thought of while using the idol? – but he knew perfectly _where_ he was.

He was home.


	4. Monty Fiske

_A/N: and this is where the plot of the fic finally gets going. Had I know it would take four chapters for it to happen, I might have given up before I even began. Thankfully (or not?) I had not idea._

_

* * *

_

Monkey Fist smiled faintly as he looked up at the family castle he was born and grew up into. It was simply impressive how it had stayed the same through the years, he mused: it was everything like it was – or would be – in the present. Then again he supposed he shouldn't be surprised by the lack of changes since he had been the one who had always refused to do anything to that castle that went past routine maintenance: he had wanted to keep it the way it had been through the centuries despite some adjustments like the installation of electrical wiring. And even that had happened before he was born in any case – he had been far less inclined to change anything than his own father and grandfather had been.

But now, he was indeed going to change something. He was about to change _history_.

The thought was enough for him to stop musing about the castle and walk closer, but he certainly wasn't planning to walk in through the door. If he was in the time he had in mind when he had used the Tempus Simia, there would be other people inside the castle – Bates, a few maids, and most likely his own mother since she was still alive in that year – he had no intention to deal with, since they would most certainly refuse to let him in unless he could provide them with a valid reason why he should get inside. Either Bates or the maids could be easily disposed of, of course, but he was not going to take the risk of having to face his mother; even though there wouldn't be consequences for him should anything happen to her, he had neither reason nor desire to harm her.

No, he wasn't going to let anyone see him but the one person he was there to meet: himself. If he was in the right time and his estimations were correct – and judging by the weather, they were – it was summer, which meant he had to be home rather than in the boarding school… and he knew exactly in what place he's spend most of his days as a student. The monkey man gave an odd smile as he finally began climbing up the southern wall of the castle, as quick as though he was climbing up a ladder even though he was using only one hand, since the Tempus Simia was cradled safely in the crook of his left arm… then again, he had climbed up and down those walls for practice countless times, and he had the advantage of having four prehensile limbs. And he had even been deemed crazy for wanting those!

It only took him a few minutes to reach the window of what had been his father's study and hoist himself on the ledge before he glanced inside. A wide grin threatened to split his face in two as he saw exactly what he had been hoping to see. His target was there, sitting at his father's old desk. Montgomery Fiske – the last heir to a wealthy family, a promising young man everyone could easily predict a brilliant future for without even knowing how much greater than they could ever expect his destiny was – didn't look one day past seventeen, and he was completely absorbed into reading a heavy book, a focused frown on his face, blue eyes narrowed in concentration.

Even though so much time had passed, Monkey Fist immediately recognized the book: it was an old book of Assyrian history, and he remembered all too well how fascinated by it he had been. Such a loss of time, he thought in distaste – hadn't he still been blinded to what his destiny was, hadn't he been so foolish to only think of Mystical Monkey Power as just a fascinating legend, he could have used that time to start looking for the source of Mystical Monkey Power already. He could have fulfilled his destiny before either Possible or Stoppable were out of pre-school!

But it didn't matter, not anymore: he was there to put a remedy to that, after all. Monkey Fist smirked again at the thought and opened the window.

Monty Fiske – who was reading with great interest about the reign of Shamshi-Adad I – scowled in mild annoyance as a blow of wind suddenly turned the pages. He glanced at the window to see it was now open. Curious, he had been certain it was shut until a minute before. Maybe he hadn't closed it well after all, he mused as he got up from the desk and went to the window to close it again.

Still, he didn't close it right away; after spending the past few hours reading, it was rather relaxing standing there for a few moments, feeling the mild breeze on his face as he glanced at the landscape outside the castle. It certainly was a lovely day, especially after all the rain of the previous days, so perhaps he would go outside for his training once he was done-

"It's quite an enjoyable weather, isn't it?"

Monty winced as the unfamiliar voice reached his ears. He promptly turned to face whoever had spoken, instinctively shifting his weight so that he could be ready to spring in action any second if he needed to, to see an odd man wearing a gi sitting on his desk.

"Who are you?" he demanded to know "how did you get in? What are you-" his voice suddenly died in his throat, and he took a sudden step back as he saw the stranger better. He sat cross-legged and his posture was hunched, which made it difficult seeing what kind of physique he had, but it was his face that immediately caught the boy's attention. There was something familiar in it, something so very familiar… something that made him think of his late father. Yes, that was it: he looked so much like him.

That, together with the fact that man had simply… simply _appeared_ in the room, for the briefest moment almost made him think that it could be him, that he had fallen asleep and was dreaming of some odd, somewhat twisted version of the man Matthew Fiske had been. But then the stranger laughed at his reaction, a high-pitched sound that made the hair on Monty's neck stand on end, and the illusion was shattered, any resemblance he had seen between him and his father forgotten. No, it couldn't be him, not even in a dream. His father's laughter had been warm and pleasantly deep, and he would have never sounded that insane when laughing.

"Who am I?" he repeated, finally abandoning his sitting position and leaping off the desk and onto the floor in one smooth motion "that's a good question and a rather foolish one at the same time. You might be more interested in what I'm here for," he grinned insanely, his eyes meeting the boy's, and the young man was taken aback as he noticed that despite being a slightly darker blue-grey and with dark circles around them they looked dreadfully familiar, too, but not like his father's. They looked nothing like Matthew Fiske's coal black eyes – they looked like _his_ eyes.

For some reason, the realization made Monty feel even more threatened. He dropped into a fighting stance once more. "I demand to know who are you, and how you got in," he said "and unless you tell me exactly what you're here for, I demand you to throw your own self out of this castle!"

The stranger seemed rather amused. "Do you think you can give me orders?" he asked "and what if I told you I don't follow anyone's orders?"

"In that case I might have to resort to other means. But I hope you won't give me any reason to," Monty said, and he really hoped so… more than because he wouldn't want to have to resort to violence – he _would_ if he had to – because there was something in that man's confidence and clothing that made him think he might be able to put up a fight… and win.

For some reason, that reply seemed to amuse the stranger even more. "Oh, I see – so you think you can fight me? But of course you do. You're very proud of your skills, aren't you? And you have every right to be. But you are still so far from achieving your full potential, so very far," he held up his hands, clenching them into fists, and it was with a mixture of awe and repulsion that Monty realized that his hands didn't look human at all… and neither did his feet. Shock almost made him step back against the wall as he realized that the stranger had a monkey's hands and feet. But how was that even possible?

"You wouldn't know what real power is if you held it in your own hands," the man… thing was going on "but I'm here to help you, of course. You're going to learn so much today," he laughed again, a laughter that now made Monty think of a monkey and caused him to shudder.

"What _are_ you?" he asked, unable to keep his voice form wavering.

The stranger scowled, clearly not pleased by the question, but he immediately smirked again. "I am your future, my boy."

His reply startled Monty. "My future?" he repeated "what in the blazes are you talking about?"

"I can't blame you for being surprised, of course. Nothing in your current mentality prepared you for something like this," the monkey man sighed, shaking his head in mock sadness "a pity, truly a pity. So much time, so much potential wasted before you'll see what you're truly meant to do, what you're meant to _be_. But showing you the way before such a waste happens is what I'm here for."

Monty was about to ask if he thought he was being amusing and to tell him to drop his act, whatever it was about, but words died in his throat as he saw something akin to delight on the man's face – not only because he could now see insanity written over that face, a dangerous kind of insanity, but also because now he could see what his mistake had been. Since that man was significantly older than he was the first thing he had noticed was his striking resemblance to his father, but now that he was closer Monty could see that he actually bore an impressive resemblance to _him_. Looking at that man suddenly felt like looking into a deforming mirror to have a twisted reflection of himself staring back at him.

_I am your future._

No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't be – that was insane, Monty told himself… still, much to his own dismay, his nervousness was quickly turning into something akin to fear. No matter who or what that unsettling mixture between man and monkey was, he didn't _care_ – he suddenly knew he didn't want to have anything to do with it, ever.

"Now," the stranger was going on "if you'll sit down and let me tell you-"

"No."

The monkey man frowned. "Excuse me?"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to tell me," Monty said, his voice a little louder as he regained some courage "I don't know who you are, nor I care. You came here uninvited and began speaking nonsense – if this isn't a very bad joke, you have to be insane. Either way, I want you to get out of here at once!"

The smirk that had still been playing on Monkey Fist's lips vanished, and his scowl deepened. It looked like his younger self was more stubborn than he remembered, he thought in annoyance. And beneath the annoyance there was the sudden thought that maybe he had got too far in the past, that he was too young and still not ready to comprehend his destiny, but he was quick to chase it away. Yes, maybe he wasn't quite as willing to listen as he might have been, but that was a minor setback that would be easily fixed. "Don't be foolish," he said, a threatening note in his voice "if you know what's good for you, you'll listen to every word I say!"

Speaking like that to his younger self was a mistake, and Monkey Fist should have known it: even in his younger days, he had never taken threats or orders kindly. "And if you know what's good for _you_, get out of here this very instant!" was Monty's predictable retort.

Monkey Fist's eyes were now two narrow slits of pure malevolence. "Are you threatening me?"

"I'm _warning_ you."

"You stand no chance against me, you foolish boy," Monkey Fist remarked, barely able to believe he had once been that blind. But he would certainly realize he had better listen to everything he had to tell him once he finally allowed him to explain exactly who he was, and why he was there. "I have no interest at all in harming you, either. It would only backfire on me," he smirked "I wasn't speaking figuratively when I said that I am your future."

Even though he was very quick to hide it, Monkey Fist could see that his words had unsettled the boy. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, clearly trying with all his might to keep his voice firm. His gaze never left Monkey Fist, but the monkey man could tell it was taking him quite some effort not to turn away.

"What I mean," Monkey Fist said with a smug grin "is that I've come here after a journey nobody before was allowed to do. I've travelled not only through space, but also through _time_ just to help you, to keep from making some mistakes that will hider you – that will hider _me_ – in _our_ quest for destiny," the monkey man took a step forward, his grin widening, his eyes positively insane "I'm here so that I can achieve my destiny, boy – the same destiny as yours, of course, for we are one and the same."

There were a few moments of silence as Monty kept staring at him, his eyes wide, then he seemed to recoil as Monkey Fist took another step towards him and forced the scowl back on his face. "You speak nonsense," he said stubbornly "are you seriously trying to tell me you travelled through _time_? You must have fled from the Leicester psychiatric ward," he added, more to himself than to that man. Yes, that was it – he had to be dealing with a lunatic. That was the only logic explanation.

"How _dare_ you!" fury suddenly twisted Monkey Fist's features, causing his younger self to wince; while the monkey man had always been aware of what most of the world had to think of him and never really cared – what should it matter to him what those blind imbeciles thought while he had a glorious destiny to fulfil and knew that he would someday have them cowering at his feet? – hearing such words coming from his own mouth infuriated him the way not even the worst kind of betrayal could have. "How can you be this blind? Look at me, boy! How can you still doubt I'm speaking the truth? How can you not recognize _yourself_?"

Monty could feel a shiver running down his spine as he forced himself to look at that madman's face once more – the sensation of staring into a deforming mirror was there again, this time stronger, but he forced himself to ignore it. He was simply letting his ravings influence him, that was all: any kind of resemblance between them had to be a coincidence: that man… thing had noticed it, and now he was trying to use it to make him believe to some crazy tale involving time travelling of all things. Yes, that was it – he had to be dealing with a loon. That was the only logic explanation. But how in the world had he managed to get inside…?

The boy's blood suddenly ran cold. Until that moment he hadn't spared a thought for the other people who were currently in the castle – his mother, Bates, the maids… what if that madman was as dangerous as he looked? What if he had harmed them? "How did you get inside?" Monty demanded to know, trying his hardest to not look as scared as he suddenly felt.

Despite being still enraged, the stranger seemed amused. "Worried about their safety?" he asked, having clearly guessed his fear "I must say I'm disappointed. Given the circumstance and the enormity of what I'm about to reveal to you, there are more important things you should be concerning yourself-"

"HOW?" Monty almost screamed "if you've done something to them, I swear I will-"

Monkey Fist snorted impatiently – he had had enough of that game. His younger self was a lot more foolish than he could ever remember being, and it looked like he needed to be taught a lesson to get his priorities straight. "You what? You'll fight me? Such arrogance! You can do nothing against me!" he snapped. It was another mistake – he should have known that telling him no one of those he cared for had been harmed would have been the quickest way to calm him down and make him listen – but Monkey Fist was feeling too frustrated by his stubbornness and blindness to do so. Let that immature child try to fight him, let him get himself defeated in no time: after witnessing what he was capable of, how superior to him he was, then he would listen to what he had to say, and how!

As he had expected, the boy finally snapped and attacked with a cry of rage. Monkey Fist noticed with a certain amount of pride how fast and swift his movements were, how good his form was even though still rough – at that point he had already started to train in martial arts and especially in Tai Shing Pek Kwar, but he was entirely self-learned and barely more than a beginner – but of course, he was no match for him as he was now.

The blow was well placed and would have caused some serious harm had it hit its target, but Monkey Fist had seen it coming, as he was quicker and more experienced. He sidestepped the blow and reached to grab the boy's hand; in a fight with any other opponent he would have probably grabbed the still outstretched arm and snapped both wrist and elbow at once, but he had no intention to actually harm his past self, so he held back. His simian hand simply grasped Monty's hand and forced his wrist to bend in an unnatural position that caused the young man the cry out and bend on his knees so that the pressure applied on his wrist wouldn't break it. Nor Monkey Fist had any intention to do so: it was simply a very useful move to keep his opponent still as he finished speaking to him.

"You don't really think you can cause me any harm with these hands, do you?" Monkey Fist smirked slightly and tightened his grip on his younger self's hand just a little, causing him to let out a yelp "they're too weak. _You_ are too weak. But we will put a remedy to that. We'll put a remedy to quite a lot of mishaps that-"

"Let him go, Monkey Fist!"

"Wha…? It can't be!" the monkey man blurted out before turning to the window, and he was shocked to see both Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible standing a few feet from him, both of them in a fighting stance. If gaze could kill, Possible's would have been enough for him to drop dead on the ground. For a few instants Monkey Fist just stared at them, incredulous. He hadn't been worried about the possibility of being interrupted in any way – his father's study was separated from all the rooms of the castle that were used daily, and he had always told Bates and the maids not to disturb him while he was there – and he _certainly_ hadn't expected anyone from the present to get there. How in the world could they follow him?

"How could you-" he began, but he trailed off with a yelp as his past self snatched his hand from his slackened grasp and delivered a sharp kick to his knee – had the boy used some more force, had he managed to hit just a little better, he could have dislodged his kneecap. Monkey Fist let out a growl of annoyance before he reached out with a foot to grab Monty's shirt and toss him aside before he turned fully to face Kim Possible. "No matter," he snarled "I don't care how you could follow me here, but I do know you're not leaving!"

Normally Kim would have shot back some taunt, but the memory of Hirotaka's lifeless eyes was still fresh in her memory, so she just scowled. "Then bring it," she scoffed before turning at Ron and giving a quick nod in Monty's direction – the boy was currently sitting up after hitting his head against the wall, looking rather groggy, and Kim didn't want him to get involved in the fight: even if he didn't help Monkey Fist against her, which seemed unlikely to her after seeing how the monkey man was threatening him, he could end up getting hurt… and although he technically _was_ Monkey Fist, Kim didn't want it to happen. He hadn't done anything wrong, not yet.

As Monkey Fist let out a growl and attacked Kim, Ron sneaked past them and approached Monty, though a little warily and ready to jump out of reach any moment. Not that the other boy seemed up to attack: right now he was just sitting on the ground rubbing the back of his head. "Are you, uh… okay?" Ron asked, a little unsure. How do you exactly talk to the past version of your archenemy?

Monty gave no sigh of having heard him: all he could do was staring with wide eyes at the fight going on in the middle of the room: that madman and the red-haired girl were fighting the way two expert martial artists would, exchanging and dodging blows so fast that their movements were a blur Monty could barely follow. Who in the world-

"What on _Earth_…?" Monty barely managed to gasp as the blonde boy next to him reached to grab his hand and lifted it closer to his eyes, almost pulling Monty's shoulder out of its socket in the process.

"Hey, Kim, look! No hair!" he exclaimed, sounding everything like he had just found something extremely rare and apparently not being bothered at all by the fact his friend and that… man monkey were currently fighting to the last breath.

"Do you mind?" Monty snapped at him, pulling his hand away from that odd boy's grasp – what in the blazes was wrong with him?

"Hey, no need to be so touchie," the blonde boy protested "I was just taking a look!"

"A man monkey and your friend are trying to kill each other in the middle of the room and all you want to look at his my _hand_?" he asked in disbelief, wondering if every loon in the country had decided to meet up in his castle.

The other boy was about to reply something, but he abruptly trailed off as a crash followed by a cry reached their ears. They both turned to see that Monkey Fist had managed to gain the upper hand in the fight, keeping Kim pinned to the ground and trying to deliver a blow that would actually end the fight, but she had grabbed his arm and was putting up a lot of resistance. Still, Ron felt a rush of panic as he recognized the same move Monkey Fist had tried to pull on him the first time they had fought, a move that could have killed him hadn't Rufus distracted the monkey man by crashing the jade monkeys.

"KP!" he yelled, trying to rush forward, but he was suddenly pushed aside and fell on the ground with a yelp. "Hey!" he protested, glancing up at Monty – who, on the other hand, wasn't even looking at him. Nor he was looking at Kim and Monkey Fist: his gaze was fixed on the pieces of what had probably been a valuable object on the ground… probably the source of the crash they had heard, Ron realized.

"You broke my father's clock," Monty was saying, his voice shaking with fury, anger swelling in his chest. It had been one of his father's most prized possessions, a gift from his deceased brother, and he had always taken a great care of it… and so had Monty after his death. And now it was in pieces because of that twisted mixture between a man and a monkey, because of that living insult to every law of nature and science! Anger made him clench his hands into fists, and he turned to the monkey man, his eyes narrowing.

Monkey Fist, on the other hand, was barely listening – all his attention focused on Kim as she struggled to break free from his grasp before he could deliver a fatal blow, he barely registered the boy's words. "So?"

"So I hope this _hurts_."

A surprised and pained yell left Monkey Fist at the vicious round kick that hit his side with unexpected force, cracking a couple of ribs shoving him aside, forcing him to let go of Kim. She immediately seized the chance to spring back on her feet, resuming her fighting stance before turning to Monty. "Thanks, Ro… uh…" she blinked, taken aback "I mean… well, thanks," she muttered, sounding rather surprised.

Monty, however, wasn't listening to her. Monkey Fist had barely enough time to stop gasping and get back on his feet before his younger self sprung forward and attacked again, his hand hitting the same spot he had kicked moments before. In his anger he didn't even stop to think what his next move would be, he didn't really even care about winning a fight – all he wanted to do was _hurting_ him. The monkey man bit back a cry and growled, blocking yet another blow with ease.

"You fool – what do you think you're _doing_?" the monkey man snapped. Despite the fury, he felt a hint of fear at the realization that maybe that attempt had been a big mistake. It was now clear that he had gone too far back in time, and his younger self was not yet ready to understand, his eyes not yet open to his destiny. What would become of him if that boy stayed in his ignorance now, if he refused to accept what he would become? The future would be utterly different, and he might never be able to fulfil his destiny. He couldn't allow it! Maybe he had made a mistake, but he had to fix it before it was too late! He had to make his past self understand! But to do that, he needed to get him somewhere else where he could speak to him, convince him. Somewhere without Team Possible around to try ruining his plans.

Monkey Fist clenched his jaw and dodged Monty's next blow. The boy was too unbalanced in the attack, and he staggered forward for just an instant – which was enough for Monkey Fist to hit the back of his head with enough force to knock him out.

Kim – who had stared at the scene in front of her with wide eyes for a few moments – snapped out of her surprise as she saw the boy slumping unconsciously on the floor, and immediately leapt forward, trying to aim a high kick to Monkey Fist's chest. The monkey man managed to grab her leg and fling her against the wall, but Kim was quick to bounce off the wall and was on him again in a moment. "What is it, Monkey Fist?" she taunted, blocking his blows while trying to keep him as far as she could from his past self "now you can't even get _yourself_ to like you?"

The monkey man gritted his teeth. "You never learn when to give in, do you?" he snarled "no matter – both you and the buffoon will soon find out what a mistake trying to stand against me was. Or better yet, you'd find out if you kept _existing_ for long enough!" he let out something resembling an animal's cry as he delivered a powerful kick to Kim's midsection, causing her to gasp and tumble across the floor.

Monkey Fist allowed himself to smirk and quickly reached to grab the Tempus Simia – which he had left on a shelf of the library when he had sneaked inside – an turned to grab his past self, planning to bring him with him in some other time and place where he could finally make him listen… then he froze as he realized that the boy was no longer on the floor where he was a moment before. "What…?"

"Hey, looking for him, Monkey Freak?"

Monkey Fist felt his blood running cold as a much-hated voice reached his ears. He turned to see Ron Stoppable standing on the other side of the room, holding a still unconscious Monty Fiske from under his shoulders – he had dragged him away while he was busy battling Possible, he realized. "You!" he barked, taking a step towards him "get your hands off him this very- _ow_!" he yelped as a blow from Kim Possible, who had recovered a lot more quickly than he would have liked, sent him crashing against a wall. For a dreadful instant he thought the Tempus Simia would slip from his grasp and clutched it tightly from his chest, and relief washed over him as he realized he had managed to protect the priceless idol. His relief, however, was short-lived.

"Ron! Get him through the passage!"

"What?" confusion made Stoppable's voice sound higher and even more annoying than usual "but Kim, shouldn't we get the-"

"Just do as I say!"

"But Wade said there might not be enough energy to bring more than two people-!"

"NOW, RON!"

Monkey Fist paled as he tore his gaze from the Tempus Simia and glanced up to see some kind of shining… passage in the middle of the room that didn't look too different in shape and dimension from the one the Tempus Simia could create. Stoppable was dragging his younger self inside while Kim stood between him and them, still in a fighting stance and her eyes still fixed on him, and it was then that Monkey Fist realized what they were trying to do.

"NO! Don't you _dare_!" he screamed, desperately trying to leap on them, but Kim was quicker: she pushed Ron and Monty through the portal with one hand and leapt forward, directly on him. Her right foot hit Monkey Fist's chest, causing him to fall back, and she used the momentum to bounce off him and perform a back flip that resulted with her disappearing into the portal only an instant before it sealed itself shut.

The study was completely silent again, for Monkey Fist could barely dare to breathe as he stared at the spot where his foes and his past self had been only an instant before, his mind unable to actually process the magnitude of his failure and how much it might turn out to affect him.


	5. Back to the Future

A/N: _I have nothing relevant to say but this: if you can't tell where the title of this chapter comes from, then shame on you. _XD  
_Oh, wait, there is something: the "present" in this fic is 2003, since that's the years ASiT happened in the show. Or didn't happen, whatever. You get my point._

* * *

Just like the first time, Kim didn't feel anything _weird_ while passing through the portal: she just back-flipped in Monkey Fist's castle in the seventies, and she landed in her own lawn in the present. Just like that. Which _was_ weird exactly because it didn't feel odd at all. She landed on her feet and resumed the fighting stance right away, just in case Monkey Fist had managed to follow her, then she relaxed as she saw nothing but her home in front of her. It looked like the device did have enough power to get three people back to the present, and Monkey Fist hadn't managed to follow them after. And for now he had no way to know where and when they were just yet, so she could breathe again for the moment.

"Uh… KP? Are you okay?"

She nodded, turning to Ron. "Yes, I'm fine. What about him?" shed asked, giving a brief nod towards Monty Fiske's unconscious form – Ron had laid him on the lawn before walking up to her.

"Well, he's still out cold, but he's breathing normally and stuff. I don't think Monkey Fist would have been dumb enough to harm him too much."

Kim's gaze darkened. "I almost wish he did. He wouldn't have existed and Hirotaka would be still alive," she muttered, only to feel awful for saying that a moment afterwards. Still, Hirotaka's end had been so _unfair_…!

Ron blinked. "You're… not serious, right?" he asked, gesturing to the unconscious boy on the ground – Rufus was warily poking him, Kim noticed. "I mean, he's… not Monkey Fist. Yet," he added a little hesitantly, and it was clear he wasn't turning into the greatest fan of time travels and paradoxes "he didn't really do anything wrong, not _yet_, and… well, he helped you out against Monkey Fist. Also, look! No monkey limbs!" his voice brightened, and Kim couldn't help but smile a little as Rufus managed to lift the boy's hand as if to emphasize Ron's words.

"That's true," she admitted. It _was_ weird, but she couldn't really bring herself to think she was dealing with Monkey Fist at all right now, especially since it was clear that guy was not much of a fan of his future self. Did Monkey Fist even have the time to explain him he was actually himself from the future before they came along? "I owe him one."

Ron seemed relieved to see her acting more like herself again. "So, why did you want to drag him along?" he asked. "What's the plan now?"

"There isn't a real plan yet, but… as you said, back in the castle he didn't seem to really like how he's going to turn into, right?"

"Right! So we will-" Ron's enthusiasm faded "no, wait, I don't know. What do we do now?"

"We change history, that's what. For the best."

"…I'm not sure I'm following."

Kim gestured to Monty's unconscious body. "Wade thinks Monkey Fist went back in time to give him some tips for the future, right? Stuff like where the jade monkeys are, I guess, and maybe to tell him not to get involved with us to retrieve the last one and so on."

"Yeah?"

"But maybe he went too far back in time," Kim was talking more to herself than to him now "so far back that he ended up dealing with a guy who had probably never heard of Mystical Monkey Power and who's still, you know… kind of sane. I wouldn't be surprised if Monkey Fist forgot having been a decent human being at some point."

"Don't know, KP. He seemed pretty mad at Monkey Fist when he broke that clock. He had a scary face on."

"I'm not saying he's the nicest guy who walked on Earth," Kim pointed out "I'm saying he probably still isn't all about mystical powers and stuff. I know that if I were to meet some crazy, megalomaniac villain with monkey limbs from the future who blabbers about Mystical Monkey Power, and then found out that would be my future self… well, I'll do my best to not turn out like that. I wouldn't want to _become_ like that. Would you?"

Ron seemed to have finally gotten what she means. "Hey, so that's the plan? We keep him away from Monkey Fist for a while and try to make sure he won't want to turn out like that?"

"More or less," Kim nodded "I mean, if he doesn't want to become like that, after we've taken the Tempus Simia from Monkey Fist and we send him," she gestured to Monty "back in his time after he sees exactly what he would get himself into… he might never grow to become Monkey Fist. He would never exist, technically – there would be Monty Fiske, an archaeologist and explorer and naturalist. This whole mess would have never happened, and Hirotaka wouldn't have died!" she seemed almost triumphant as she spoke those words, and Ron knew she would try anything to make sure things went according to the plan. And it was a good plan, really, but…

"What if he doesn't decide he doesn't want to be Monkey Fist?" Ron asked "I mean, he didn't seem to like him at all, and that's a point for him, but… you can never know. What would we do then?"

"Well…" Kim glanced down at Monty, and for a moment her eyes narrowed, her hands clenching into fists.

"KP?" Ron called out again, this time sounding a little worried, and Kim recoiled. No, even if their plan didn't work she knew she wouldn't manage to bring herself to do anything against someone who had not yet done anything wrong… no matter what he would do in the future. It just wouldn't be fair.

"I just hope it works," she finally said "if it doesn't… at least we tried," those words left a bitter taste in her mouth, for it would be admitting defeat, admitting she had been unable to save a life "if he does grow up to be Monkey Fist, then he does. What really matters is taking the Tempus Simia from him and-" she trailed off as the Kimmunicator beeped, its sound causing the boy on the ground to stir and let out a faint groan.

"Kim, you're back!" Wade exclaimed excitedly as Kim turned the Kimmunicator on "what happened? I registered two different passages through time and space in the past minutes. Does Monkey Fist still have the Tempus Simia?"

"I'm afraid he does. We couldn't take it from him yet – but you can track him down if he uses it again, right?"

"Sure."

"Then keep monitoring the time-space continuum and let us know right away if he does something, okay?"

"Hey, of course. Who do you take me for?" Wade seemed a little offended "but what _happened_? There is something odd with the trace you left while getting back in the present. Did you bring something from the past with you?"

"More like someone," Kim replied, turning to Kimmunicator so that Wade could see Monty as he began stirring on the lawn. She heard the unmistakable sound of someone chocking on their soda and turned the Kimmunicator back to her. "Long story short, Monkey Fist went to see him," she said before Wade could speak "you were probably right, he must have been trying to give him tips for the future or something… but looks like his past self didn't appreciate it at all. He didn't appreciate _him_ at all. Whatever Monkey Fist told him, he sure wasn't thrilled about it."

Wade seemed deeply fascinated by what she was saying. "Well, wow. This is the first time someone has a chance to meet themselves from the future. Do you know what this means?"

"That he could turn out differently now that he's still relatively sane and has seen with his own eyes what he'll turn out into?"

"Exactly! I mean, it's technically bad news because it means that Monkey Fist somehow managed to alter the events, but… since we can't undo that, at least we can make sure things change for the best!"

"That's what I was thinking. I don't know how many chances there are since we didn't really get to see what his… disagreement with Monkey Fist really was about, but it could be worth a try."

"It sure is," Wade agree "man, Monkey Fist's plan may have just backfired on him big time. He must be getting crazy over this!"

"_Just_ over this?" Ron muttered, turning his gaze away from Monty for just a moment – he had crouched next to him now that he was stirring, waiting for him to wake up.

"You get what I mean," Wade replied with a shrug "anyway, Monkey Fist will do his best to fix his mistake. He must know that what he's risking is non-existence, or at least turning out much differently than he is."

"The poor baby," Kim muttered dryly "he's running the risk of getting back to a life as a respected archaeologist and scholar with loads of money and no monkey limbs. How horrible."

"He's completely insane, remember?" the boy genius reminded her "and as I was saying, he'll do his best to get him back and try to put a remedy to his mistake. Right now his younger self is in a time he doesn't belong to and thus the common rules of the time continuum don't apply on him, but if Monkey Fist manages to get him back to his own time and _then_ uses the Tempus Simia to get further back and keep himself from visiting him – hey, don't look at me like that, I never said this kind of stuff is simple – it would be like nothing of this ever happened, and this guy will grow up to become Monkey Fist. And Monkey Fist will still have the Tempus Simia."

"But on the other hand, if we can take the Tempus Simia away from him and then bring _this_ Monty Fiske back to the time he belongs to…?"

"Then, if he _really_ isn't thrilled at all by what his future self turned out to be, he'll probably do his best to not follow the same path and there is a good chance that _poof_," he made a vague gesture with his hand "farewell Monkey Fist and hello back, Monty Fiske."

"This sounds a lot like a good twin, bad twin kind of thing," Ron muttered "no, wait, it's more like a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde kind of thing."

"More or less, I guess," Wade conceded "but we're not talking about two different people with separate personalities – we're talking of the _same_ person, just… before and after some years, experiences, and choices. This is kind of interesting, really. I almost wish there were a way for us to compare Monkey Fist as he is now with what he might turn out to be in a few years after learning a lesson or two…"

"Hey, KP, he's waking up!" Ron muttered. And it was true: Monty was starting to open his eyes a little groggily, trying to regain bearing of his surroundings.

"We've got to go, Wade," Kim said "keep an eye on the time stream and let Sensei and the others know what happened. Tell them we've got this under control for now."

"Sure."

Kim put away her Kimmunicator and crouched next to Ron by Monty's side. "Are you alright?" she asked as the boy finally opened his eyes just enough to put her on focus.

No, Monty thought, he wasn't alright _at all_. His memories of what had happened earlier were still a little foggy, but certainly not pleasant… and his head was throbbing, an aching pain on the back of his neck. "My head hurts," he muttered, trying to lift himself on his elbows, but he felt somebody – the girl with red hair, he realized – pushing back to rest on his back.

"Then stay down another minute, okay? If you don't feel any better I'll go call my mother – she's a doctor, she could help you out."

Normally Monty might have snapped at her not to tell him what to do, but his head was still hurting and he felt dizzy – he doubted he would manage to stand without falling right now – so he decided that it wouldn't hurt follow her advice, at least for now. "What happened?"

"Monkey Fist gave you a bad blow," Ron explained "you've been out for a little while now."

"Monkey Fist?" Monty repeated.

"Yeah. Your… uh… the guy who attacked you back in your castle."

"Him!" Monty seemed to suddenly remember all that had happened, for his half-closed eyes snapped open… with the only result of making him grimace as they met the sunlight directly. He groaned and tried to rise on his elbows again.

"Hey, you should be careful-" Ron began.

"Don't tell me what I have to do!" Monty snapped, causing Ron to shut his mouth right away. Kim, on the other hand, said nothing: she just watched as he finally managed to sit up and reached to rub the back of his neck. His grimace faded a little and he finally took a look at his surroundings. "Where on Earth am I?" he asked, puzzled. It was clear he was trying to find anything familiar in what he was seeing and he couldn't manage to.

"We're in Middleton, Colorado," Kim explained.

Monty froze, glancing at her with wide eyes. "Colorado?" he repeated, as if it were an exotic word.

"Yep. In the States," Ron added helpfully.

"I know where it is," Monty retorted "I simply… how did I end up here?"

"You were knocked out, and we had to get you away from Monkey Fist as quickly as possible. He's… very dangerous," Kim explained.

"And you had to drag me all the way to the _States_?" Monty looked doubtful, clearly wondering if they could _really_ be that far from home "didn't you say I was out only for a _short_ while?" he added somewhat accusingly, glancing at Ron "and who in the world is this Monkey Fist person? What did he want from me? And who are _you_?" he demanded to know.

"Well…" Kim and Ron exchanged a quick glance before Kim spoke first. "It's a long story," she finally said "how about getting in – yeah, that's my house – before we explain everything? Over a cup of tea?" she suggested. Tea wasn't really her thing, but her mother did have some from time to time and she guessed it wouldn't hurt making Monty feel a tad more comfortable while they pretty much demolished his certainties to the ground and explained him that he was in the future and had just had the questionable pleasure to meet the man he would become in little over a couple of decades or so.

Monty seemed to have decided that they didn't look like someone who just escaped from an asylum after all and that maybe they could really give him some answers, for he finally got back on his feet and brushed some grass off his trousers. "I'm highly doubtful of the quality of any brand of tea you might have in the States, if that's where we really are," he finally said "but I suppose it will have to do."

* * *

"Here," Kim let the cup filled with tea slide across the kitchen table, and Monty caught it with ease before eyeing it with some suspicious. Both her and Ron were sitting in front of him with a can of soda each, a choice of beverage that had made the British boy wrinkle his nose a little "now, on to the introductions. I'm Kim Possible, and he's Ron. Ron Stoppable."

Monty raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be a joke, or do your parents have a knack for bad puns and those are really your names?"

"Hey, it's still better than Monkey Fist," Ron muttered, gaining himself a small kick under the table from Kim.

"I never stated otherwise," Monty replied with a shrug, clearly unaware of the fact Ron's argument was referred to his own choice of name – but honestly, how could he know that? "So, are those your actual names?"

"Yeah," Kim said just a little coldly "do you want to see our IDs?"

"It don't think it will be necessary. My apologies if I was offensive," Monty said, though nothing in his tone or posture seemed to indicate he was sorry in the slightest. Honestly, why should he? Those names were, to put it mildly, highly unusual, to the point he wasn't sure he could actually believe them as they claimed those were actually their names. And even if they were, claiming that a madman with monkey limbs had managed to choose himself an even punier name didn't precisely so much to make theirs sound normal.

"Whatever," Kim said, deciding to just drop the matter – it wasn't the moment to get into a fight over stuff like that, especially since… well, if they were supposed to make sure he would learn something from that mess and thus never end up becoming Monkey Fist it sure wouldn't have hurt staying in decent terms with him and possibly gain his trust. "No problem."

"Good. Speaking of which, I'm Monty Fiske," he said – they probably knew it already, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt introducing himself "I'd like to say I'm pleased to meet you, but up to this moment the circumstance have been anything but pleasant, you must agree. And is that a naked mole rat?" he asked, some mild interest showing in his voice as he glanced at Rufus, who was currently chewing on something he had dug up from Ron's pocket.

Ron seemed pleased to see that there was at least _someone_ around who didn't mistake Rufus for a hairless weasel or something. "Yeah, he is! My father is allergic to fur, so I had to find a hairless pet. He's Rufus," he said, sounding a lot friendlier to Monty already "and Monty is for Montgomery, right?" he asked, a little curious – if that was really his name, it was no surprise he had gone insane at some point. Really, and then he said their names were odd…!

A small grimaced appeared on Monty's face just for a moment. "I'm afraid so, but I'd rather avoid having people calling me by a name that makes me yawn before I'm even done listening to it. I suppose Ron is for Ronald, instead? Like Ronald Reagan?" he asked. He was not very interested in whatever happened in the States, but he had heard well of a few movie starring him, other than having heard that he had tried to run for Presidency and that was planning to try again in a couple of years.

"Yeah," Ron said with a shrug "my parents went to see a movie with him in it when they began to date in high school, I think, and they both loved it, so there. They still had no idea he would become a President when they decided it would be their kid's name, but it's pretty cool that I have the same name as-ow!" he yelped as Kim kicked him again, and he realized too late that he had spoken too much as he saw Monty frowning a little.

"But he isn't a President. Aren't elections in two years?" he asked, looking rather confused. He was never really interested in politics, let alone politics outside his own country, but even he knew that.

Kim turned to Ron. "Let me handle this, okay?"

"Okay."

Monty frowned, even more confused than before. "Fine. What does this have to do with what happened in my castle with that lunatic or with the fact I am, supposedly, in the States?"

"Well…" Kim trying, without much success, to think of a gentle way to put what she was about to tell him. She glanced down at the cup he was still holding. "It will get cold if you don't drink," she said, more to gain a little time than because she really cared whether he drank his tea hot or not. She was pretty sure that once she explained him exactly what was going on, he wouldn't feel like drinking anything anyway.

Monty saw right through her attempt and just pushed the cup aside. "I think I'll pass – I can tell from the scent that it's not a good brand," he said, completely ignoring Kim's annoyed frown "now, if you don't mind, I'd very much like an explanation."

"Okay," Kim sighed "I don't know exactly what Monkey Fist managed to tell you, or to what point…"

"He said nothing that made the slightest amount of sense. He kept talking of destiny, of power, of the future."

"Good. I mean, it's _not_ good, but at least you have an idea of what this is about."

Monty blankly stared back at her. "Actually, I _don't_. And I would be very grateful if you could be kind enough to enlighten me."

"Hey, I'm trying, okay?" Kim snapped "it's not something easy to explain!"

"How about trying to use words? I assure you they _help_," Monty shot back, grimacing a little as his head throbbed again. After all that had happened at once, wasn't there anyone who could use him the kindness of actually telling him what on Earth was going on?

"Fine," Kim growled "just tell me, what did Monkey Fist _exactly_ tell you about the future?"

"I told you, nothing that made sense. He claimed that he was my future, or something close, and then added something about a journey through time and space," he shrugged "complete nonsense, of course."

"Aw, c'mon!" Ron muttered "don't tell me you didn't notice the resemblance! Have you ever looked in a mirror in the morning with just-out-of-the-bed hair? Just add twenty-something years, freaky monkey limbs and manic looks, and- ow!" he yelped as Kim kicked him again.

"Ron, this isn't helping!"

"Hey, you've got to tell him at some point! So, didn't you notice anything? Anything at all?" Ron insisted, glancing at Monty again "I mean, you'd have to be blind to _not_ notice!"

The young man, on the other hand, just stared back at him for a few moments without saying anything. The almost frightening sensation of looking into a deforming mirror every time he looked at that lunatic's face came back to his mind at once, and he could feel his hair standing on end once more. He had to repress a slight shudder before he finally replied. "I might have noticed some… similarities, but of course it means nothing…" he paused, unsure, as Kim shook her head.

"Actually, it means a _lot_. Monkey Fist is completely nuts, I'll give you that, but he wasn't lying when he said he had traveled through time and space. He literally _is_ your future. Look," she added as she realized by the blank look on his face that his brain was simply refusing to process the implications of what she was trying to tell him "what year do you think we're into?"

Monty looked at her as though she had to be either stupid or crazy. "We're in 1978, of course."

Well, that was it – it looked like it was time to drop the bomb. "No, not really. Not anymore. Back in the castle we were in 1978 yes. But right, well, _now_… we're in 2003," Kim said, trying to sound as though she was saying the most normal thing in the world.

There were a few moments of complete silence as Monty kept staring at them, and there was no doubt he had to think they were just as insane as Monkey Fist was. Kim noticed that he had shifted his weight on the chair ever so slightly, as if getting ready to jump on his feet and run away. All things considered, she couldn't really blame him: he had to be thinking he had somehow ended up among a bunch of madhouse escapees… which was pretty ironical, considering that the only one who was actually insane was his own future self. "Excuse me?" he finally said slowly, clearly hoping that he had misunderstood what she had just said after all.

"I know this sounds crazy," Kim said "I didn't believe anything like time traveling could happen until a few days back, when Monkey Fist stole the first part of an idol called Tempus Simia, which-"

"Tempus Simia? The Time Monkey?"

Ron blinked. "Do you know Latin or did you hear of the idol already?"

"A little of both, though mainly the latter. I remember reading about it in an interesting book I found in-" Monty began, then he trailed off as he realized that he was dealing with two raving lunatics who claimed they had just brought him with them in the future – not the kind of people he'd get into an academic discussion with. He turned to Kim. "If you're _not_ completely insane and this is, as I suspected, a joke, I have to admit it is a pretty ingenious one. You even took the time to learn about an ancient artifact – rather impressive. But you can't seriously expect me to believe that the Tempus Simia could be actually capable of making its owner travel in time. Fascinating as it may be it's merely an old legend, nothing more!"

"I wish you had kept believing that," Kim said bitterly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You'll learn that some things are more than just legends, and that will mean trouble for a lot of people… yourself included. Monkey Fist went back in time looking for you because there were things he wanted you to know in advance so that he could remove any obstacle between him and Mystical Monkey Power before it even happened."

There was a moment of silence as Monty frowned, then he sighed. "Mystical Monkey Power – did you research on that myth, too? I'm suitably impressed, I have to admit – this joke is far more elaborated than I would have thought. So for now I'll play along. Let's pretend I believe you, and that this… Monkey Fist person actually went back in time. Why on Earth would he need to speak to me of all people? In which way could he think I'd be able to help-"

"Man, and then you claim you're _smart_!" Ron spoke up again "really, try to put two and two together! This guy travels back in time to speak to you so that his _own_ destiny will be changed, claims he's _your_ future, looks an awful lot like _you_, and you _still_ don't get it? I mean, just think of your name – Monty Fiske. Switch a few letters, and what do you get? Monkey Fist. That guy is _you_ from the future!"

Kim was suddenly tempted to smack her hand on her face. "Very gentle, Ron," she muttered.

"…what? We had to tell him anyway sooner or later."

"Did you have to tell him like _that_?"

"Well, you kept talking and talking without telling him anything…"

"I would have gotten to that point in a minute if you just waited!"

"Yeah, but-"

"_Excuse me_."

Both Kim and Ron promptly shut up and turned back to Monty – who, Kim wasn't surprised to see, seemed by now completely convinced that he was dealing with two nutcases. "Unless my hearing is failing me," he said slowly "I think you just claimed that this… Monkey Fist individual is supposed to be _me_ two or three decades from now."

"Yes! Well, I mean, not from _now_ since we're in the future – I mean, the present for us – already, but yeah, that's what you… will turn out to be in twenty-something years starting from 1978," Ron said, clearly happy to see he had grasped the point so quickly. He turned to Kim. "See? He didn't take it so bad-" he was cut off by a loud bang as Monty jumped on his feet, knocking off his chair.

"You must be _insane_!" he exploded "either that, or this is a very bad joke you had better drop this very instant! Do you actually expect me to believe to such nonsense? There is no such thing as Mystical Monkey Power, it's only an old myth! And it's impossible to travel through time! And even if I were to _pretend_ for one instant that I actually believe all this I refuse, I simply _refuse_ to believe I could be the same person as that lunatic!"

Well, that was pretty much the reaction Kim was expecting. The possibility of time traveling was hard for anyone to believe already, but being told that the insane monkey man who showed up in your home blabbering about destiny and monkey magic… that had to be even worse, and it was no wonder if was what Monty was most fiercely refusing to believe. But they _had_ to convince him, and Kim felt sorry for him for a moment – she couldn't really imagine how she would feel in his place.

"I have an idea," she said "if I prove to your that time traveling is actually possible, will you at least try to listen to us on the rest?" she asked reasonably.

Monty didn't look convinced at all. "I can't see how that would be possible," he said coldly.

Kim smiled a little. "Everything's possible for a Possible."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing. So, could you give us just a chance to prove you that we can travel in time? It will take just a minute."

He still looked very doubtful to say the least and it was clear he thought he was dealing with someone who had a few loose screws, but in the end – either because he wanted to see how far that would go or because he thought the best course of action would be playing along rather than upsetting someone in a questionable mental state – he nodded. "Very well. Do show me."

"Great," Kim took the Kimmunicator from her pocket "Wade, can we open the passage we just used again?"

"Sure. Once it's been opened, you can get back in those particular time-space coordinates any time you want. Just use the Kimmunicator. But with Monkey Fist still on the loose with the Tempus Simia, I don't know if it would be a good idea sending him back to his time – Monkey Fist could-"

"We're not going to send him back until everything is fixed, don't worry," Kim replied, not noticing how her words made Monty scowl and tense slightly, clearly wondering if they were planning on keeping him captive. "But now we need to prove him that we can, well, travel through time and space. He's being a tad skeptical."

"Well, can't blame him," Wade said "just try to get back quickly, I can't contact you while you're in the past and Monkey Fist could decide to use the Tempus Simia any moment. Also, be careful to not let your… other selves meet you in a time set neither of you belongs to, and don't change anything. You could end up causing a time paradox with unpredictable consequences."

"Don't worry, we'll careful and back in a minute," Kim reassured him before interrupting the communication and turning to Monty again, still holding up the Kimmunicator. "So, are you ready?"

Monty just folded his arms. "Proceed," he said quietly.

"Sure," Kim said a little more forcefully than she meant to before pointing the Kimmunicator ahead and zapping. A moment later a swirl appeared in the middle of the kitchen, looking like a small, translucent hole in reality. Kim turned to see Monty's mouth hanging open, but he was quick to recollect as he realized she was looking at him.

"An amusing trick with lights, I suppose. I can't see how that's supposed to be a proof."

"You'll see it if you walk in," Kim reached to put a hand through the portal, and Monty's certainty that it had to be a trick seemed to waver. She retreated her hand. "After His Lordship," she said a little sarcastically, gesturing to the open portal.

Monty tore his gaze away from the portal to glance at her as if she were completely insane. "How can I be sure it's safe?"

"Because I say so."

"Why should I _trust_ you?" was the retort.

"You asked for proof, didn't you? I thought you liked to explore," Kim almost growled.

Monty eyed at her suspiciously. "If it's so safe, why don't you walk in first?"

On a rational level Kim couldn't really blame him for being skeptical or even scared, but she had been in so much stress in those past two days and they were in such an awful mess that she just couldn't stay patient for long… especially when his attitude and arrogance reminded her _that_ much of his future self. She scowled. "Because you could do something stupid if we're not there to look after you all the time, that's why!"

"I don't need anyone to look after me, and certainly not two individuals who claim they're from the future and have some hairless rodent as a pet!"

"Hey!" came Rufus' protest from Ron's pocket.

"Dude, that's not cool!" Ron echoed.

Kim just snorted. "Yeah, we saw just how well you could take care of yourself when you were dealing with Monkey Fist," she pointed out.

Those words clearly struck a nerve, for Monty scowled. "I could have defeated him myself," he said coldly, choosing to ignore how easily that madman had defeated him and brought him to his knees "and if you don't watch your tongue, I-"

"Yeah, _sure_. Have you taken a look at my Not Impressed face? I have two brothers, I used to baby sit, I've dealt with worse brats than _you_ are and I could mop the floor with your self-righteous ass any moment. You wanted a proof, didn't you? Then jump in he portal _now_!" Kim snapped, getting herself a glare from Monty and a surprised glance from Ron – it wasn't like her losing patience like that… then again, she had been through a lot. Hirotaka's death had clearly been a shock, and it made her take the situation at hand a lot more seriously and with less ease than she would have normally.

If gaze could kill, Ron thought, Kim would have dropped dead in a moment – Monty was glaring death at her and for a moment he looked like he was about to snap back, but he apparently decided he had better hold back, at least for now. "Very well," he finally seethed before approaching the portal. He tentatively held back an arm in it, and he swallowed a bit as it disappeared from sight, as if swallowed by that… optical illusion in the middle of the room. His arm didn't feel any different, though – he could also move his fingers, even though he couldn't see them.

"See? It doesn't bite," Kim pointed out "now you can walk through it."

"Hey, your arm sticking out of nowhere must be a funny sight," Ron muttered, but Monty didn't even listen to him – he just drew in a deep breath and walked directly into the portal. Kim and Ron exchanged a quick glance before following him, and after just an instant they were back in 1978, in front of the stony bridge that brought to Castle Fiske. Monty was only a few steps ahead, his head tilted back as he looked up at his castle, and as they went to step by his side they could see that his mouth was hanging open in a rather undignified way.

"Do you believe us now?" Kim asked, this time a little less sharply than how she had spoken to him until a minute earlier _and_ twenty-five minutes later. She seemed to have calmed down a little, especially since now he looked just stunned and somewhat scared, not one bit as arrogant as before. Besides, she reminded herself feeling just a tad guilty, he surely hadn't had an easy day, and it wasn't like what they had told him was the easiest thing to believe.

"It… it can't be," Monty muttered, his widened eyes still fixed on his castle as he tried without success to find a plausible explanation that didn't involved traveling through shining portals. He reached to touch the stone parapet of the bridge, which felt cold and rough and very much real under his fingers. "It's impossible!"

"A little tip – strike out that word from your vocabulary as long as you're hanging with us," Ron suggested.

Monty gave no sign of having heard him; he just gawked at the castle for a few more moments before he turned to Kim. He was clearly shaken, but still trying to find an explanation for all that was happening. "It's… and interesting way to travel," he finally said, his uncertain voice betraying the trouble he was having to stay calm "your technology actually is impressive. But you have yet to convince me that it allows people to travel through time other than through space," his voice grew a little surer by the end, the stubborn frown on his face once again.

Kim immediately knew why he was desperately refusing to believe the possibility they could actually be back in time because the one thing he wouldn't be able to stand was the finding out that the madman he had met was actually the same person as himself, that he would really grow up to become Monkey Fist. She bit her lower lip, suddenly feeling rather sorry for him; she wasn't sure how she would feel in his place. Still, she reminded herself, things could actually turn out well for him in the end, and Monkey Fist might end up never existing. But now he had to know.

"I'm afraid we can prove that, too," she said quietly "Ron, can you wait here for a minute?"

"Sure."

Monty raised an eyebrow as he saw her taking some kind of hair-dryer from her backpack. "What is that supposed to do?"

"It will spare us having to actually climb up to the window up there," Kim explained before holding out a hand "hang on me, okay?"

"Excuse me?" he frowned, clearly not exactly liking the idea of clinging to her like that; he probably thought it was too undignified – what a gigantic stick in the mud, Kim thought.

"Look, do you want me to _prove_ it or not?" she said with a frustrated sigh "we don't have too much time, if we stay too much in the past again we could mess it up even worse than it is already. So move."

"Don't worry, dude, she won't let you fall down," Ron reassured him.

If Monty hadn't thought about it before, he surely seemed worried _now_. He glanced up at the window that seemed impossibly far above them. "If I tell you I believe you…" he began slowly, but Kim scoffed.

"But you don't, right?" she said "look, just trust me, okay? I do this kind of stuff every day. Just play along for a moment."

Monty didn't really seem convinced, but he did take a few steps in her direction, and it was enough for Kim. "Great," she muttered before grabbing his arm, pointing the grappling hook upwards and pulling the trigger. Monty had barely enough time to realize what was happening – only a moment after she grabbed his arm he found himself being pulled up and breakneck speed, and a second later they were almost all the way to the top of the southern tower, just beside the window of his father's study.

"What…?" he began, his voice almost a screech, but Kim immediately shushed while trying to hold back a smirk as he actually clung to her now that they were so far above the ground.

"Shhh. Don't let anyone hear you. Just look in, and don't let anyone see you – don't worry, I won't let you go."

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then a familiar voice – _his_ voice – reached his ears through the open window, causing him to freeze and whatever he had been about to say to die in his throat.

"_So I hope this hurts_."

No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Those were the exact same words he had said not even hours before, when… when…

_It can't be…!_

Monty forgot the fact he was hanging awfully high above the ground and reached to grab the ledge of the window with a hand so that he could hoist himself up and take a look, Kim still holding his other arm tight. He managed to glance inside for a brief moment, but it was enough for all his certainties to shatter. He shut his eyes for a few moments before he opened them again, but he couldn't block out the sound of the fight going on between _himself_ and that… Monkey Fist individual, all while both Kim and Ron stared with identical surprised expressions. That was exactly what had happened, and now he was looking at it happening again, from the outside… and he could see, without a shadow of doubt, the horribly obvious resemblance between Monkey Fist and him.

_I'm here so that I can achieve my destiny, boy – the same destiny as yours, of course, for we are one and the same._

_One and the same._

_One and…_

"No, it can't be." He had meant to scream, but he was unable to utter anything more than a whisper. He had barely enough strength to keep clinging on the ledge as he watched with widened eyes Monkey Fist hitting the back of his head, causing him to slump unconsciously on the ground. His mind fumbled to find any different explanation from what he was seeing, anything that didn't involve time traveling, but he couldn't think of anything. He swallowed and shut his eyes, his head pounding. "It can't be…"

"I think you saw enough," Kim's voice reached his ears, a lot gentler than before, and Monty didn't bother to reply. He didn't even move as she pulled him back and began descending back to the ground with an efficiency and speed that were highly unusual, especially considering that she was pretty much bringing back down a dead weight. Monty didn't say a word when they finally reached the ground and Kim let go of his arm: he simply stood there, blankly gazing ahead, playing over and over in his mind what he had just witnessed.

"Uh… dude? Are you okay?" Ron's voice reached his ears as if from miles away. He shook his head, more to try clearing his mind than to reply to him.

"There must be an explanation," he told himself, barely aware of Kim and Ron's presence now.

Ron blinked, misunderstanding his words. "Hey, we brought you back to the past and showed you what happened, er… an hour and twenty-five years ago. What _else_ do you need?

Monty almost snarled as he turned to face him. "I believe you now, alright? Are you satisfied? I _believe_ you! You can travel in time!" he snapped "now forgive me if I'm having a hard time adjusting to the idea I'm supposed to become a loon with monkey limbs in twenty years or so!"

"Er…" Ron took a step back, a little startled "sorry, I didn't mean to… well…"

"Calm down, aright?" Kim spoke up "this is so not the drama."

"Really? It does seem enough of a drama to me," Monty pointed out, glaring at Kim with a frown "maybe you wouldn't think so if you were in my place! Maybe you'd want an _explanation_, don't you think?"

Kim sighed – fine, maybe he had a point, but that was neither the place nor the time to discuss. She had no idea where Monkey Fist had gone once they had gotten back to the present, and she didn't want to take the risk of meeting him there. "You're right, it _is_ kind of a drama. Look, how about discussing it back in my home? You can't stay here as long as Monkey Fist can travel in time, and… well…"

"You want to keep me under control, don't you?" Monty asked, but he didn't sound really angry, as if he didn't have enough strength left in him to be mad – he was merely stating a fact.

"To make sure Monkey Fist can't do… whatever he wanted to do with you," she hesitated "you know, once we take the Tempus Simia from him so that he can't move in the time stream anymore… things could change for you, okay? Now that you saw what you'd turn out into, you could avoid-"

"But how?" Monty demanded to know, looking incredibly confused and shaken and almost _scared_ "I don't even know what I should avoid! I have no idea how I could… how _he_ could come to be! How am I supposed to stop something like that if I don't know how it could happen?"

Kim and Ron exchanged a quick look. Those were pretty good questions, really, and it almost surprised them how little they knew about one of their worst foes. But who could tell them something more?

A sudden thought hit Kim, causing her eyes to widen a little, then she turned back to Monty. "I think we know someone who could give you some answers," she said "if Monkey Fist doesn't try to mess with time right away, we'll try to track him down as soon as possible and try to let you speak to him. But now… just come with us, okay? It's the best solution for now."

Monty hesitated, staring at them almost pleadingly for the first time, as if silently pleading them to be telling the truth, to really be able to make him understand the reason why he was now in the dreadful mess, then he nodded. "Fine," he murmured.

Well, it wasn't the most enthusiastic agreement ever, but given the circumstances Kim supposed she shouldn't expect anything better. She just nodded and pressed the button on her Kimmunicator to open the passage again. Neither Kim nor Ron said a word as Monty just walked in and disappeared – they just exchanged a saddened and somewhat awkward glance before following him, letting the passage close again behind them.


	6. Middleton High

_A/N: not exactly an action-packed chapter, but I couldn't let the opportunity of having poor Monty confronting Middleton High pass by._

_

* * *

_

"Tell me once again what made you think this would be such a good idea," Monty said grimly. He hadn't slept well that night – certainly not just because of Ron's loud snoring – and now the thought of spending the whole morning in some American school rather than go looking for some answers certainly didn't brighten his mood.

"Because we can't skip another day of school and we have to keep an eye on you in case Monkey Fist shows up," Ron repeated for the fourth time "he must have realized he made a mistake by trying to speak to you about monkey magic, and we don't know what he could decide to do to fix the, uh… mistake."

Monty clenched his teeth. He had no idea what that loon was willing to do to fix a mistake, but he knew to what lengths he was willing to go to make sure he _never_ became like that. "Isn't this a reason to let me meet Bates as soon as possible?" he asked. How could they not realize how important it was for him to finally have some answers, some _explanations_? "I thought this friend of yours could find anyone in a minute!"

"Look, he's working on it, okay? And we're going as soon as we're out of school, promise. Now how about picking a pair of pants before we're late?" Ron muttered, worriedly glancing at the clock.

"It's not so easy. Don't you happen to have trousers that don't look like they were made out of a potato bag?" Monty asked with a scowl as held the pants Ron had given him to arms length. It looked like he didn't really appreciate modern fashion… not that anyone would have the courage to claim anything Ron wore was fashionable.

"How about this?" Ron suggested, picking up the smocking he had worn in a couple of occasions and was most likely going to wear for the Junior prom.

"Tell me you're trying to humour me," Monty said, staring blankly at him and at the atrocious light blue smocking he was holding up.

"Hey, stop criticizing! I'm trying to help!" Ron protested.

Monty was about to snap back that until that moment any kind of _help_ they had given him hadn't been appreciated or helpful and that thus they should probably stop trying, but the door opened before he could say anything. Both him and Ron turned to see Mrs. Stoppable walking in with a heap of freshly washed clothes in her hands – Monty's clothes. "I thought you'd want these back," she said, and hadn't he been relieved like never before to see a familiar pair of dark trousers, a grey waistcoat and a white shirt, Monty could have been once again surprised by how natural she sounded, as if having a guest from the past overnight with no forewarning was far from the most surprising thing she had ever dealt with.

"I owe you more than you can imagine," he said with a relieved sigh, taking the clothes from Mrs. Stoppable's hands. She dismissively waved her hand.

"Oh, you're welcome. I wish Ronald were this elegant, too."

Monty had to bite his tongue to say that the only chance for her son to come across as even vaguely elegant would be sitting still and never speaking other than drastically revising his choices in clothing. "I… thank you for taking the trouble of cleaning these," he said instead "and my apologies for bothering you without any kind of forewarning."

Ron made a face. "Hey, are you trying to smite my mother or what?" he asked as his mother left after giving an amused chuckle.

"I'm simply being polite," Monty said as he began to take off the nightshirt Ron had given him for the night "now, would you mind? I don't appreciate being gaped up while I get dressed."

"…oh, right," Ron sighed and turned to face the wall, his gaze shifting to the clock from time to time. Now they were going to run if they wanted to be in school on time – and Barkin was holding the first class, of course. Just his luck. It looked like Montgomery Fiske was just bad news to him, no matter what version of him he dealt with.

* * *

"Hey, Ron, here you are! How did… Ron, are you alright? You look like you had to run," Kim frowned a little as she walked up to him. And indeed, Monty noticed, he was quite a pathetic, panting heap slumped against the wall as he was.

"I'm… okay, KP," he panted, lifting his hand to wave at her a little "His Lordship here needed some time to get dressed, and then we had to run," he drew in another deep breath "man, dude, that almost killed me!"

"But as you can see, we made it on time. It's hardly my fault if you're so unfit that you're unable to even run a little without running out of breath," Monty pointed out, frowning a little as he struggled to open the locker he had been assigned – it looked like that Wade person had made sure everyone would think he was just an exchange student, which explained his presence. Monty had briefly wondered who would be idiotic enough to willingly switch from the British educational system to American one. Then again, if they were stupid enough to really believe that… well, so much the better.

"Well, good morning to you, too," Kim muttered, frowning a little before she forced herself to relent – after all he had been through a lot the previous day, and since they hadn't exactly been the bearer of great news to him… well, he had no reason to really be so happy to see them, actually. Especially considering the fact they had him spending the morning in their school rather than going to look for answers right away.

"Good morning," Monty said dryly, still fiddling with the locker "would you mind explaining me once again-" he trailed off as a girl stepped forward to grab Kim's arm.

"Hey, Ron! Hi there," she smiled at him before dragging Kim away "can we speak a second, Kim?"

Monty blinked. "Is that how you usually say good morning to each other?" he asked.

Ron shrugged. "Pretty much," he said, faintly wondering what Monique wanted to speak of so urgently.

"Monique, what…?" Kim began as her friend finally stopped dragging her down the hallway, but she cut him off.

"So he's the guy you told me about, uh?" she asked with a smirk "you know, he's cute."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, he _is_ good looking," Monique commented, glancing at him over Kim's shoulder as she spoke "and a Brit. This gains him some extra points."

"Monique, he grows up to become a megalomaniac man-monkey. Remember that detail?"

Monique blinked. "…oh, right. That takes away a few points, I guess. But now that he's not monkey-ish, he _is_ cute," she peeked at him again over Kim's shoulder "he just screams 'British aristocrat here'. Must be the waistcoat. Or the tie. How often do you see guys wearing a waistcoat and a tie around here?"

"Not often," Kim conceded. She hadn't really paid attention to it – maybe the fact she thought of Monkey Fist any time she looked at him had something to do with it – but she supposed that had she just met him randomly, she would have thought he was pretty good looking, too.

"I bet all girls will be crushing on him in no time. Bonnie surely will. She's looking for a way to make Brick jealous again, so she'll kill two birds with one stone, or try to. The curse of the cute exchange student – like it happened with Hirotaka, remember?" Monique laughed, and Kim felt a cold chill running down her spine as she realized that she had no idea what had happened to Hirotaka by the hands of the man Monty would become. If she knew she certainly wouldn't be so cheerful, Kim thought grimly, and she had to swallow a lump in her throat.

For a moment she considered telling her, but maybe she really shouldn't: there _was_ a chance for them to fix things so that Hirotaka never died, so there was no need to tell Monique about it just yet… not to mention it would make things worse for Monty if he knew his future self was now also a murderer. There was a part of Kim that couldn't help but feel grudge against Monty any time she thought about Hirotaka's end, but on a rational level she knew he wasn't really the one responsible, not _yet_, so…

"So, there really is an exchange student from Britain," a familiar voice snapped Kim from her thoughts. She glanced ahead to see Bonnie observing Monty with quite some interest, and Monique gave her a I-told-you-so look before replying to Bonnie.

"Yep, fresh meat straight from the old continent," she said with a shrug, and Bonnie smirked – yes, she was _definitely_ up to hit on him.

"Well, we're lucky with exchange students, I see. Out of the way, losers," Bonnie said, walking straight past them and going straight for the kill. "Hello there. I'm Bonnie Rockwaller – you're about to know me anyway like everyone does, so I thought I'd make things faster. You're from Britain, right?" she asked, interrupting Ron in the middle of a sentence and leaning on the lockers. She batted her eyelashes.

Monty raised an eyebrow, slightly annoyed – annoying as Ron's babblings could get, there were few things that annoyed him more than people interrupting a conversation – and faintly wondering if there was something wrong with her eyes. Was it normal for someone to keep blinking like that? "Yes. From England," he said shortly before turning his attention back to the locker.

Bonnie frowned for a moment, disappointed by the fact he hadn't taken advantage of her question to start a conversation and ask her name, then she thought of something else she could add. Maybe he was only being shy: a lot of boys tend to be intimidated by beautiful, popular girls after all. "Isn't that what I said?"

"You asked if I were from Britain. I specified which part of it I'm from," Monty said with the same uninterested tone as he finally managed to open that thing and put some of the books Ron had given him in. He turned to the other boy. "So, as you were saying…?" he began, but Bonnie interrupted him once more.

"Isn't it the same thing?"

Oh, dear. Monty blinked and turned to stare at her, hoping she had been joking. No, she looked perfectly serious. Monty's already low opinion on America's educational system dropped even more. "For your information," he said coldly "Britain doesn't consist in England only. There are other states such as Whales, Scotland and… what?" he asked as he realized that, far from being embarrassed over her abysmal ignorance, she was smirking at him.

"You know a lot of things, don't you… Monty, isn't it? You could _teach_ me something after school, when you're tired to hang with the bottom of the food chain," she meaningfully glanced at Ron, who didn't seem to even hear her.

For a brief moment Monty found himself at a loss of what to do or say. He simply wasn't used to confront that kind of behavior: the boarding school in which he spent most of the year was strictly boys only, and even if it weren't he couldn't picture any girl back in 1978 England being so straightforward and downright inappropriate – at least not any girl that he had met in the few social gatherings he had ever bothered to attend. His contacts with exponents of the opposite sex of his own age were admittedly rather rare, especially with anyone who hadn't the same social upbringing as himself, and his experience in such matters was pretty much non-existent. Thus there was only one reply he could possibly come up with to try discouraging her without having to be rude.

"Montgomery, if you please," he said a little stiffly, regaining his composure. He had never before insisted for anyone to use his full name – his father had been the only one who had ever used it on a regular basis in any case, and he was long since gone – but it seemed the most polite yet direct way to let her know she should keep some distance between them.

She seemed a little put out for just a moment, but then – much to Monty's displeasure – she gave him a knowing wink. "You Brits are just as formal as I heard, _Montgomery_. There are a couple of fancy places around here you could like, now that I think about it. Say, have you ever been-"

"Hey, Monty, old chap!" Ron suddenly walked up to them, causing Monty to recoil and Bonnie to scowl as he grabbed Monty's arm and began dragging him away without him trying to resist in any way "man, look at the time – we'll be late for classes if we don't move…!" he blabbered, only to finally start talking like a normal person again after they turned the corner. "You'll thank me later," he said, letting go of Monty's arm.

"No, I'm thanking you _now_," Monty replied, rather grateful for having been snatched from obnoxious that girl's attentions "she seems to have no idea of what's proper."

"Uh… yeah," Ron said, thinking that there were plenty of things Monty was just bound to think of as not proper in their daily life "you just met Bonnie. And I hate it to break it to you like this, but she's kind of used to get anything she wants most times and isn't really known for accepting a 'no' as an answer so easily."

"That's an understatement," Monty heard Kim's voice, and he turned to see she and the girl he had seen earlier were waking by their side now.

"Oh joy," he said dryly.

"Hey, you'll worry about her later," Ron grabbed his elbow and resumed dragging him along, a gesture that was much less appreciated now that he didn't need any excuse to get away from anyone "I wasn't kidding when I said we're late for classes. We get the history class now, and I think the teacher had a bad accident involving a goldfish…"

"What kind of accident could possibly-?" Monty began to ask, but Kim cut him off.

"We didn't dare to ask for details. Anyway, there's Mr. Barkin filling and you _don't_ want to be late when Mr. Barkin is holding a class."

"Yeah," Ron grimaced "you're late, you get a detention. That guy needs to relax."

"In my school, you wouldn't want to be late for _any_ class, regardless who's teaching," Monty remarked, not exactly getting what exactly was Ron's problem with what he considered a perfectly normal behavior for any teacher.

"Sucks to be you, then," Ron said with a shudder as they finally walked in the class – thankfully, a few instants before a large man Monty supposed was Mr. Barkin got in as well. "Phew," Ron muttered as he and Monty sat, rather close to Kim and that other friend of theirs… she hadn't even had the good grace to introduce herself, Monty thought "last thing I need is giving him another reason dislike me. He's out to get me, I tell you."

Monty frowned. "Now you're being paranoid. I don't believe a teacher would be unprofessional enough to-"

"Stoppable! Extra homework for talking!" came Barkin's voice.

Ron blinked. "Hey, but it wasn't me to-" he began, but he trailed off and dropped his shoulders as Barkin glared back. "…more extra homework," he said a tad weakly.

"You bet, Stoppable!" the man thundered, dropping some sheets in front of him before walking back to his desk "everybody, listen up! I'm going to fill in for Mrs. Ross until-"

"I stand corrected," Monty said quietly as Ron let out a groan and slumped in the chair. He glanced at the papers Barkin had dropped in front of him – he apparently demanded an historical research from him about the war for Independence against Britain. "Such recent western history is not my main interest, but this is nothing complex," he said with a shrug "and being my own country involved, I of course have studied it. I could get this done during the lunch break."

Ron blinked before staring at him as if he had fallen from the sky. "Really? You would do that?" he sounded almost moved.

"Yes, yes, but quit talking," Monty hissed as he noticed Barkin was turning his attention back to their general direction… and this time, he seemed to finally notice Monty's presence.

"Who are you?" he demanded to know, stepping in front of him and crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer. Monty felt a pang of annoyance – were even teachers that rude in that place?

"My name is Montgomery Fiske. I'm an exchange student from Britain," he said calmly, forcing himself not to point out how utterly unpleasant he thought he was.

The man's eyes narrowed. "I had no idea we were getting _another_ exchange student," he said, and Monty couldn't help but wonder what had happened with the previous one, since he really didn't seem to like the thought of having yet another foreign student in his class.

"I do believe all the necessary documentation was sent to headmaster already. Perhaps he didn't have the time to let all the teachers know," Monty suggested innocently.

"Headmaster?"

"He means the principal," Kim shot Monty a glance "…I think."

Monty shrugged. "If that's how you call the chief administrator of a school, then yes."

"I see," Barkin glanced at him again a bit thoughtfully, then he shrugged "well then, Fiske, welcome to Middleton High. Surprise history test!" he announced to the whole class, causing several groans to rise.

Monty raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I feel welcomed, indeed."

"Hey, at least you're good at history and stuff. I'm going to fail the test, I just know it," Ron grumbled as he watched Barkin distributing the test to everybody, then his face brightened "hey, can you take a look at your answers?"

"If you must."

"That would be cheating, Ron," Kim chastised him a little. He gave her a sheepish grin.

"I know, but… c'mon, I've got an expert here, and we sure didn't have any time to study these days!"

"This doesn't mean you can just cheat-"

"It wasn't _you_ he asked," Monty finally snapped at her, tired of their argument already – wasn't she capable to mind her own business? – and turned back to Ron. Had it been him to choose he wouldn't even be in that place right now, so last time he was willing to tolerate was being ordered around, however indirectly, and being given any kind of morality lesson. "If you're having trouble, don't hesitate to look. I have no problem, as long as your don't mindlessly copy word for word and your _friend_ here," he glared back at Kim "doesn't decide to give us away."

Kim glared back at him with a scowl, but she finally dropped it and just turned her attention to the sheet of paper Barkin was giving her.

* * *

"Dude, I'm about to get the highest grade in history – hey, get it? In _history_!" Ron was positively beaming, barely minding the odd looks he was getting from everyone standing in line behind them. Which was a load of people, since Monty seemed to be having a hard time just picking something for lunch. "Get it?"

"Yes, it is amusing. Just like the last twelve times you said it," Monty muttered with a sigh before he turned his gaze black to the… rather questionable ideas of a lunch that were presented to him. He grimaced. "Don't you happen to have something that looks edible?" he finally asked to the lunch lady, who on the other hand – being apparently one of the very few women in the room who didn't seem charmed by him or at least curious – just scowled.

"If you don't see anything for your tastes take something from home next time – now move along, people are waiting," she snapped, grabbing the tray Monty was holding and dumping a spoonful of some kind of grey blob that looked suspicious like vomit on he the dish before shoving it back on his hands. Monty stared for a few moment at that… thing, a horrified rictus on his face, then he scowled.

"Now see here-" he began, but he had no time to say more before Ron grabbed his elbow and dragged him away from there. He was doing that annoyingly often.

"_Excuse_ me, I was in the middle of an-" he began, but trailed off as Ron held his arm a little tighter.

"_Please_, don't make her mad," he said "if she gets mad, we'll all have to pay a horribly high price for the whole week. Food will get even worse. And tomorrow is the day of the double cheese pizza – you make her angry, no double cheese pizza!" he winced visibly, and from his pocked Rufus let out a whimper at the thought.

Monty turned to glare at the food on display in distaste. "I can't see how making this worse could be possible."

"Just trust me on this one, okay? I'll give you some of my Naco if you do."

"Naco?" Monty asked as he finally gave in and followed Ron to the table where Kim and her friend – Monique, as he had gathered – were already sitting.

"What, you don't know what a Naco is?" Ron asked, reaching into his bag to take a greasy paper bag, which he held triumphantly "you have no idea what you've missed for all this time!"

"That doesn't quite answer to my question," Monty pointed out, only to frown as he noticed the look Kim was giving him "what?"

"You picked Mystery Meat?" she asked, a rather disturbed look on her face.

"God, _no_. It was a rather forced choice," he said, suspiciously observing the Mystery Meat in his plate as he poked it with the fork "is it actually supposed to be meat? Just what kind of meat?"

Kim shrugged. "No one knows. That's why we call it the Mystery Meat."

"Fascinating," Monty said dryly, putting down the fork – even if it didn't look like a blob of vomit, he hadn't eaten meat in quite a while and wasn't going to start again now. "I think it just moved."

Monique shuddered. "Ew!"

"A most appropriate choice of words," Monty muttered before turning to glance at whatever Ron had taken from his paper back somewhat hopefully, but all hope was crushed as he saw the greasy… thing in his hand that looked everything like some fast food garbage. "Is _that_ a Naco?" he asked with a slight shudder, trying to ignore how the naked mole rat – Rufus? – had taken part of it and was now chewing happily. How could Ron be inconsiderate enough to let an animal eat that kind of garbage?

"Yeah," Ron replied happily through a mouthful of Naco "directly from Bueno Nacho – I should drag you there one of these days it's heaven!"

_Yes, dragging me might indeed be the only way to make me._

"If you say so," Monty just said, warily glanced at the Naco again "but unless they happen to also have vegetarian dishes, I think I'll have to pass."

"A vegetarian Naco?" Ron abruptly stopped eating and stared at him as if he had just uttered a horrible blasphemy "you're _kidding_, right?"

"They have salad," Kim told him reassuringly "by the way, I took some fruit, but I'm not that hungry. Do you want my apple? At least you won't be fainting for hunger by the time classes are over," she added, almost biting her tongue before she cracked a joke about how it was too bad they didn't have bananas that day – she was pretty sure he wouldn't have appreciated. She wasn't too surprised when Monty nodded eagerly.

"That would be most appreciated, thank you," he said, reaching to take the apple. He barely had enough time to give it a bite before the Kimmunicator rang.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"I've found Bates' address. He lives in a Cheltenham, not very far from London. I'll get you a ride as soon as you're out of school."

Monty felt his heart skipping a beat. "Why waste time? We could go now," he said, barely keeping himself form jumping on his feet.

"Don't worry, there are just a couple of hours left-" Kim began, but Monty cut her off.

"I suppose it's easy to be patient when you're not the one who desperately needs _answers_," he snorted, his hands clenching into tight fist. Did she have the slightest idea what it was like having a million questions not giving him a minute of rest, being desperate for an explanation on why he had literally taken a look at his _future_ to see it so twisted and corrupted and rotten to the core? Of course not, she had no idea!

Kim scowled at first, then she drew in a deep breath and made an effort to calm down. "No, but I'm someone who'd very much like to fix his mess to keep someone who really didn't deserve it from dying," she said, and Monty blinked, taken aback.

"Dying? Did someone _die_?" Monique asked, voicing his thoughts.

Kim and Ron exchanged a quick glance before she just nodded. "Yes."

"But who? How…?" Monty asked, trying to sound calm, but it didn't take an expert to guess what kind of answer he was dreading to get.

_Please, tell me it was not him._

No, she couldn't tell him the truth, not yet. He had been shaken enough when they had named few of the things Monkey Fist had done, such as wasting the family fortune to get monkey limbs, taking children captive in a space station, trying to become the Monkey Master to take over the world and stealing artifacts related to Mystical Monkey Power – somehow, that last thing seemed to have struck Monty even more than the rest, since he seemed to think of stealing artifacts as the worst kind of crime man could commit. It would make no good to him knowing that now his older self was also a murderer, nor it would serve to any purpose.

"There was an accident while we were looking for the Tempus Simia," she simply said, hoping he's leave it at that. He seemed more than eager to believe it. "Anyway, once we take back the Tempus Simia from Monkey fist and get the time stream back on place… well, you don't want to be like that, right?"

"Is that even worth asking?" was the somewhat cold reply.

"Uh… right. So hey, you won't," Kim managed to sound both confident and hopeful at the same time "no Monkey Fist, no mess with the Tempus Simia, no victims. Time will right itself and the… _details_ that will have changed, will have changed for the better."

"Given that I know what exactly happened and what I should avoid," Monty pointed out "I need to know where things went wrong so that I can, as you put it, _fix_ them. This is why I need to see Bates! I need him to tell me – you know absolutely nothing of what happened before he was already insane!"

"You mean before _you_ were already-ow!" Ron yelped as Kim swiftly kicked his knee under the table – last thing they needed was putting more stress on Monty by reminding him yet again that he and Monkey Fist were actually the same person. He was clearly aware of it, but Kim couldn't blame him for not actually wanting to refer to a madman with monkey limbs as, well, _himself_.

"And we are going to talk to him," she said "in little over two hours we'll be getting ready to knock at his door, okay? And we'll make sure you get all the answers you need. But now get eating that apple again, the lunch break is almost over," she added.

Monty simply shrugged. "I'm not longer hungry," he said, putting the apple back on the table and folding his arms over his chest with a frown on his face, his gaze fixed on the wall ahead as if though it was his most hated enemy. He stayed silent during both classes they had after lunch, the scowl never melting, but at least he didn't insist for them to go earlier and Kim guessed it was something.

Nevertheless, she was both relieved and somewhat amused when she finally saw his expression brighten a little when it was finally time for them to go… and Kim could have sworn there was just a glint of excitement in his eyes as he saw the GJ jet that would give them a ride to England. It had to be the look he had once had in better times before he went exploring a portion of jungle nobody had yet been into, she mused as they climbed into the jet.

Some tenseness aside, the flight wasn't half bad – Monty had never been on a jet before, and while he couldn't help but think he still preferred other means of transportation he couldn't deny that it was a rather interesting experience. He might have almost enjoyed it, hadn't Ron apparently decided that they should pass time playing some guessing game on why Monkey Fist had come to be. Couldn't he realize by himself just how incredibly uncalled for that was?

"Maybe you hit your head on the ceiling of some pyramid – you wouldn't believe how low those are!"

"I'm actually perfectly aware of how a pyramid is built. History has always been one of my main interests," Monty said a little coldly.

"Oh, right. By the way, do you other interests include, er… monkeys?" Ron shuddered a little as he named the word.

That didn't do much to brighten Monty's mood. "As a matter of fact, yes," he replied "I'm deeply interested in everything simian. But that's very far from subjecting myself to… to some kind of _mutation_ to become a mockery of a man and a mockery of a monkey at the _same_ time."

"Hey, dude, don't bite, I was just asking! Anyway, back on track – do you think it was a blow on the head?"

A small groan escaped him. "Is this game of yours something I have to necessarily get through?"

Ron shrugged. "There isn't much more to do anyway, no? So, do you think-"

"I have _no idea_ what happened. It's exactly the reason why we're going to England right now, isn't it?"

"Sheesh, relax, I was just trying to have some fun!"

"The I hope you'll understand if I tell you I'm not inclined in the slightest to have fun right now."

Ron sighed. "Okay," he said before falling silent. The pause, however, only lasted for a few minutes. "Hey, how about parents issues?"

Monty blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You know, parents issues? Childhood traumas? A lot of vill- I mean, a lot of people apparently have those. Both in reality and in fiction – mostly in fiction, really, because it's a classic – so it could have something to do with, you know… Monkey Fist?"

"I highly doubt that," was the dry reply "my childhood was certainly not traumatic. I have fond memories of those years, actually." And it was true: even though his father had passed away when he was still rather young – a loss that perhaps had somehow marked him, but never drastically enough to compromise his life – his childhood had been far from traumatic: it had been rather uneventful and, yes, happy enough.

"Oh. So no parents fighting or, you know… getting mad at you?" he asked weakly.

Monty suddenly stiffed in outrage. "If you're trying to suggest what I think you're trying to suggest, you are dead wrong," he said slowly, his voice as cold as ice "neither of them ever laid a finger on me, and always made sure that no worry or issue they might sometimes have became a burden for me. If you try once again to even imply-" he added, his voice barely more than a hiss, but Ron was already shaking his head rather frantically.

"No, no, nothing like that," he said quickly "look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean… it was just an idea. Nothing more."

"It was a foolish idea," Monty seemed still rather annoyed "it wouldn't hurt you _thinking_ before you open your mouth!"

"Hey, hey, I said I was sorry, okay? What else…"

On the front seats, the pilot – a seasoned GJ agent – leant a little on his right to speak to Kim. "Are they always like this?" he asked, not even needing to specify what he was referring to as Monty and Ron kept arguing behind them.

Kim dismissively waved her hand. "Oh, this is nothing. They'll get worse. In time."


	7. Bates

_A/N: this is the last chapter I had written beforehand; from now on I have to get back to writing each chapter, so updates might not be as regular as they were up to this point. I'll try my best to update regularly enough, though._

* * *

The silence in the dojo was eerie, but the monkey ninjas did nothing to break it – they barely dared to even breathe, their eyes fixed on their master's still form. He had been sitting in the middle of the dojo in a lotus position for the whole night and most of that day, his eyes shut and showing no intention to come out of his trance just yet. It was a little worrying, maybe, but still a huge improvement from his state of mind when he had come back from his first time travel.

The thought still made the toughest of them shiver. Their master had been out of his mind, and none of them could recall seeing him more furious: he had screamed the most horrible threats against his enemies, and most of the already scarce furniture in the dojo had been smashed; he had even been about to throw the Tempus Simia, the item he had risked so much to get, against the wall – but he had restrained himself, and the monkeys could only guess he feared the consequences that there could be if he did so.

Such consequences apparently were not the only thing he feared. They knew their master very well and had seen him furious a good number of times, but this time there wasn't only fury for a spoiled scheme in him: there was also fear, as if he were frightened of something his minions couldn't even begin to imagine. But he had finally seemed to calm down at least a little in the end, enough to sit on the floor and meditate, and all his minions could hope was that once he snapped out of his trance he would be more reasonable, ready to fill them in with what had happened and come up with a plan.

* * *

Even though the jet left them on the outskirts of the town – GJ would rather avoid making a jet land in the middle of a city, the pilot had explained them – finding the right address hadn't taken too much time once Wade had sent Kim detailed directions on the Kimmunicator. Kim smiled as they finally stopped walking in front of a long series of not too large but rather nice houses.

"Here we are," she said, interrupting the seventh discussion Monty and Ron had gotten themselves into – it looked like they didn't quite agree on what would make a well balanced diet, and Kim had said nothing to not have to take Monty's side on that one.

Both Ron and Monty promptly stopped talking and turned to look at the house she was pointing at. "Finally!" Monty exclaimed, and he was about to cross the street before Kim grabbed him "what…?"

"Wait just a minute, alright? You can't just get there and say 'hi, I'm from the past, mind to tell me what happened in the years I missed out?', can you?"

"I can't see why not," Monty retorted with a scowl, yanking his arm free from her grasp "and since I can't think of a way to put information like this mildly enough not to shock someone – you certainly didn't even try with _me_ – we could as well stop wasting time! Why should I wait?"

Kim sighed. "Well, because seems like nobody's home, to name another reason?" she suggested, gesturing to the house once again. Monty turned to look at it closely, and he had to grudgingly admit that she was right – all the blinds were shut.

"Wonderful," he said bitterly.

Ron patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll have to get back home sooner or later," he said "look, there is a bar over there. Why don't we go eat something while we wait?"

"I'm not hungry," Monty said sulkily, suddenly looking everything like an overgrown kid who's just been denied a toy. Ron shrugged and turned to Kim to ask her if she felt like eating something, then he paused as his gaze fell on a man walking on the opposite sidewalk and approaching Bates' home – a rather familiar looking man.

"Hey, KP," he called out "I think that's- ow!" he yelped as Monty pushed him aside, eager to reach the man – he was certainly older than he recalled, but he was still recognizable and he was the only familiar face he had seen until that moment.

Kim reached up to try stopping him. "Monty, wait a-"

"Bates!" Monty was already calling out, clearly relieved to see a familiar face, and even from across the street Kim could see how the man's eyes had widened upon seeing the boy. They would be lucky if he didn't collapse on the ground because of a heart attack.

"…second," Kim sighed before she went after him. Bates was definitely going to need one heck of a good explanation for that.

"What…?" Bates was stammering, taking a step back as Monty approached. It was clear he had recognized him, but denial was written all over his face, and Kim couldn't really say she blamed him. He had to be trying to think of a logical explanation for what he was seeing, and Kim wondered if he could be thinking of anything along the lines of Monkey Fist getting himself cloned or having a secret offspring.

_Yeah, and who would the mother be? A monkey? _

Kim had to suppress a shudder at the idea and forced herself to turn her attention back to the scene before her.

"Who are you?" Bates was asking, apparently still too stunned to think of anything else he could think or say.

For a moment Monty looked confused and stopped abruptly – but really, Kim thought, how could he _not_ guess he would be getting a similar reaction, considering that he was coming straight from the past? – then he took another step forward. "Don't you recognize me, Bates? It's me. Montgomery Fiske. You can't have forgotten me!" he added somewhat pleadingly as he saw Bates staring blankly at him. It was clear he was still struggling to find a logical explanation for what he was seeing, but he couldn't take of anything.

"Milo… I mean… young sir?" Bates finally uttered.

Monty's gaze brightened. "Yes, it's me! My word, I've never been happier to see you! You wouldn't believe what I've been through these days!"

"I… don't understand," Bates said weakly, still staring at the boy as if he were a ghost, and Kim noticed that his eyes darted to Monty's hands for the briefest moment. She couldn't tell whether the look on his face was of relief or even more shock as he saw his hands were still human – maybe both.

"Me neither," Monty was going on, apparently not even having taken notice of the man's obvious shock "there are far too many things I don't understand. This is why I'm here – I need to know what _happened_, and… there is nobody else I trust."

"Hey, thanks a lot!" Ron complained aloud, causing Bates to wince – in his shock, he hadn't even taken notice of their presence. He turned to Kim.

"Kim Possible?" he murmured "what… what is the meaning of this?"

"Well, it's a long story," Kim said "can we get inside so that we don't have to explain you everything while standing on the sidewalk?"

"I… of course," Bates said mechanically. He gestured for them to follow him as he went to unlock the front door and held it open for them. Once they had all stepped in he shut it and leant against it for a few moments, as if afraid his legs would give in and let him fall if he dared to move. He drew in a deep breath, clearly trying to recollect. "You… can make yourself comfortable in the living room," he finally said, and they did. Bates sat on the only empty armchair left and finally glanced at Monty again as though he could scarcely believe his eyes. "Is that… is it really you, young sir?" he asked shakily.

"Of course it's me!" Monty seemed still too glad to see him to realize how much trouble the poor man was having to process what he was seeing. He seemed to have forgotten how wary and how deep in denial he had been when given similar news just the previous say. "Who else could it be?"

"I… I don't know. Of course, the resemblance is uncanny, but…" he turned to Kim and Ron "can you explain…?"

"The _resemblance_? Are you saying I'm a liar?" Monty asked, and for the first time since when the conversation had started Kim could detect impatience, even a hint of anger in his voice.

"Of course not," Bates was quick to reply "but it is… well… you must admit it is not something easy to believe," he said meekly.

"But I can prove it!" Monty exclaimed "I can tell you everything, a lot of things nobody else could know! Remember when my mother bought me a toy monkey, after she heard me going on about monkeys all the time since when we got back to that trip in Africa? I dragged it anywhere I went. I insisted for you to serve it tea and biscuit once, remember?"

Bates seemed taken aback. "I remember. How…?"

"And how about when I climbed on top of my father's armchair to see what he was reading?" Monty went on "he pretended he hadn't noticed me for a while, and then he would say aloud that there was a monkey perched above his head. And when I asked him how could he know because I thought I had been stealthy, he kept claiming a birdie had told him. It happened almost every day, you can't have forgotten that!"

"I haven't," Bates seemed even more stunned "but…"

"And remember my mother's vase?" Monty went on "my father broke it when I was four or five, and claimed it had been me while playing with the dog – Darwin, remember him? – because he knew she wouldn't be angry at me as she would have been at him."

"I…" the faintest smile appeared on Bates' face just for an instant at the memory, but it was so quick that Kim thought she might have imagined it "yes, I do remember."

"Then do you believe me _now_?" there was a pleading note in Monty's voice. Bates stared at him for a long instant before he finally nodded.

"I suppose… yes, I do believe you, young sir. My apologies," he finally said "but how… how did this happen?"

Monty was about to speak, but he paused when Kim glanced at him and held up her hand. "Mind if we take care of the basic explanations in what happened?"

He hesitated, then he nodded. "If you're so inclined," he said.

"Great," Kim said before she turned back to Bates and began giving a quick summary of the events that had made that odd meeting possible, starting from the moment Monkey Fist had stolen the head of the Tempus Simia and skipping Hirotaka's death so that Monty wouldn't know about that. During her tale Bates didn't speak at all, only glancing at Monty a few times, the look of shock on his face fading as she went on with the explanations – the fact he had witnessed Mystical Monkey Power's existence with his own eyes had probably made him more inclined to believe in tales involving mystical powers, even those about time travel. Besides, the proof she was telling the truth sat right in front of his eyes. How could he deny it?

When she finished telling him what had happened up until the moment they had met he still looked surprised, but he seemed to believe her. "It's… incredible," Bates murmured, turning to look at Monty once more "and you… he actually attacked you?" he asked, apparently having trouble himself to think of Monkey Fist and the boy in front of him as the same person, even though it _was_. "What on Earth was he hoping to gain?"

"I don't have the slightest idea. On the other hand, they," he barely nodded towards Kim and Ron "think that he might have wanted to come back and speak with to give me… suggestions," he almost spat out the last word, his scowl showing clearly what he thought of whatever _suggestion_ Monkey Fist could have to give him. "And he didn't seem to appreciate the fact I did not appreciate that."

"It is possible, yes," Bates seemed thoughtful himself "he could have wanted you to know of the jade monkeys and Mystical Monkey Power already, maybe he would have told you where they were hidden to that time wouldn't be wasted and… well, I supposed he would have warned you not to get involved with Team Possible."

Monty seemed to consider it. "Well, that last one might have been the only sensitive suggestion, now that I think about it…"

"Sheesh, _thanks_!" Ron muttered "look, we're trying to help-" he trailed off as he saw that Monty was smirking slightly, and it took him a few moments to realize that he was… was he…? "Dude, you're joking! And here I thought you were serious! I hadn't heard you _joking_, like, ever!"

The other boy seemed mildly amused. "The fact I don't utter some obnoxious joke any time I open my mouth to speak doesn't mean I'm deprived of sense of humour," he said with a slight shrug before turning his attention back to Bates, his expression turning serious once more. "In any case… yes, that was probably what he was trying to tell me. But he miscalculated a detail," he leant forward, staring straight in Bates' eyes as if that could help him see how he truly _meant_ what he was about to utter "I _don't want_ to become him," he said firmly "I need you to believe me on this, and I need your help to know just… what caused it to happen once already. Because mark my words, once he's rendered inoffensive and I'm back in my own time, I won't let it happen again," he added almost viciously.

There were a few moments of silence, and when Bates spoke again he seemed hopeful. "I truly hope you'll be successful, young sir. It pained me a great deal-" he trailed off for a moment, clearly uncomfortable at the thought of speaking ill of his old master, even in front of said master's younger self – old habits die hard, after all. Then he drew in a deep breath and went on. "Seeing you… seeing milord turning into the man you saw pained me," he finally said "especially with the memory of the great man he had been still fresh in my mind."

"Great man?" Monty seemed doubtful. On one hand it was… good knowing that he had been something one could define as a great man before he turned into a monkey obsessed psychopath, but on the other hand he simply couldn't picture someone like Monkey Fist ever being a respectable person. Then again, he reminded himself, he had once been _him_. The thought made him swallow.

"Oh, yes," Bates was nodding eagerly now, his eyes somewhere distant as if he were lost in old, pleasant memories "there was a time, until not too long ago, when Lord Monty Fiske truly was a great man. He used to be a world famous archaeologist, explorer, and naturalist. Not to mention a highly respected scholar."

Used to. Something in those two words made a chill run down Monty's spine. "And then what happened?" he asked, his voice oddly weak "what happened to him? To me?"

"Happened?" Bates sounded a little unsure.

"Yes! I need to know what happened to him. How can I be sure I won't meet the same fate if I don't know what twisted him to begin with?" Monty leant forward once more "was it an accident? A trauma? Brain washing, maybe?"

He sounded almost hopeful, and Kim suddenly knew what kind of answer he was hoping he would get: that something had indeed happened, something traumatic and maybe brainwashing that not only would give him an explanation to Monkey Fist's madness that would make him feel like it wasn't really his responsibility, that he wasn't really to blame. But judging by the saddened look on Bates' face, she could guess Monty wasn't going to get the answer he was hoping for.

"I actually can't recall any accident like that happening, milo- young sir," he said, apparently deciding he just couldn't bring himself to refer to him as 'milord' "and the change was so gradual, so difficult to detect that first that I didn't notice anything was wrong. It seemed like he was simply researching on Mystical Monkey Power from a purely academic point of view, and I didn't think much of it. Over the time he got… very absorbed on his research. His obsession grew over a rather long stretch of time, and I'm afraid I can't detect the moment he truly lost his mind. But as far as I can tell… there was no real defining moment, no trauma that could explain such a change. It was subtle and gradual, also steady and not at all sudden."

Monty stared at him for a few moments, and when he spoke again his voice was emotionless. "Are you telling me that there is no reason why it happened? That I… that _he_ just lost his mind like that, with no reason, no explanation? _Is that what you're saying_?" his voice suddenly rose, anger and something akin to panic twisting his features. Bates seemed scared and both Kim and Ron tensed, ready to spring to action should he try to do anything stupid out of rage, but he didn't get up from the armchair, and Bates finally spoke again.

"I'm sorry I had to be the bearer of such news, young sir," he said almost mournfully, "but I cannot lie to you. I hope you understand..."

"No, I _don't_!" Monty snapped, having clearly misunderstood what Bates was trying to tell him "this makes no sense! Something must have happened! If what they told me is true, he had everything – _everything_! He was respected, he was wealthy, and his job… it was what I've always dreamed to do! He can't have simply decided to throw it all away because… because… why would I want to take over the world? I never wanted anything like that!" he protested. Yes, he had always been proud and competitive, always wanting to be the best in whatever field he was into and never demanding anything but the best from himself, but that certainly was a far cry from turning into a madman fixated with mystical powers and ready to do something as twisted as turning himself into a man monkey hybrid and travelling through time to obtain it!

Bates sighed. "I know, and this is why I failed to realize how much you… how much he was changing at first, young sir. As I told you, it was a slight change at first. He only buried himself more in his work when he knew of the existence of that… mystical power, and the legends surrounding it. It seemed like a mere academic interest at first, but before I knew it… it had become the centre of his life. I willed myself to think it wasn't anything but a passing interest, if a very time-consuming one, but then there was the genetic mutation, and that's where I started to really fear things might never be alright again. That was about four years ago," he added, this time glancing at Kim and Ron "about a year before the issue with the jade monkeys. But milord had been… unwell for quite some time before that."

"But didn't anyone notice? Didn't anyone try to stop him? To stop me?" Monty was looking at Bates almost pleadingly, not even knowing what kind of reply he was hoping for "my mother? Anyone?"

The man shook his head. "I'm so very sorry to say this, young sir, but… no. You… he kept himself away from company unless it was related to work, and your mother was gone by the time he became… actually obsessed with it."

"Gone? Gone already?" there was disbelief in the young man's voice now "but how? She couldn't be that old! She would have been in her sixties!"

Bates hesitated once more, and Kim felt even sorrier for him: being forced to give so many bad news at once had to be awfully hard on him. She actually couldn't decide for whom she felt the most sorry, Monty or Bates. She glanced sideways at Ron to see he was keeping his gaze fixed on the floor, and frown on his face.

"There was a dreadful accident, young sir," Bates was saying "she fell from the stairs one evening, probably while going to fetch herself some water – she didn't call for the maids because she never wanted to depend too much on them, as you know. A maid found her the next morning. If it's of any help, she died as soon as she hit the ground. She didn't have to suffer."

That information didn't seem to be really doing much to make Monty feel better. He sat rigidly, his face expressionless, but it was clear the news had been an awful blow for him. "And where was he when it happened?" he asked weakly.

"Young sir, even if you were in the castle when it happened, you certainly couldn't have done anything to-"

"_Where was I_?"

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other, then Bates sighed. "In Malaysia, looking for a temple-"

"Was it about Mystical Monkey Power?" Monty demanded to know.

"It wouldn't have made any true difference if it weren't-"

"The truth, Bates!"

The man shut his eyes, clearly wishing he were anywhere but there. "Yes," he said quietly "it was related to Mystical Monkey Power."

A few moments of silence followed his statement. "So he wasn't home when she died because he was out looking for Mystical Monkey Power already," he said, his voice emotionless "while she was dying, _I_ was-"

"Hey, now that's not _fair_, dude!" Ron suddenly snapped, causing everybody to wince. The boy got up and turned to Monty. "Look, there's nothing you could have done anyway, alright? She fell from the stairs, how were you supposed to know or stop that? Even if you were out looking for something that had nothing to do with monkey magic, even if you were home when it happened, you couldn't have done a thing! It was not your fault! Accidents _happen_!"

Monty seemed taken aback, and for a few moments he didn't reply, just staring at Ron as if he had never seen him before. "But if I weren't… I…" he paused as he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder – Kim's hand.

"He's right, you know," she said "you… Monkey Fist… well, no matter what he was up to, why he was away – he… you couldn't have done anything anyway," she told him, but she knew he wouldn't stop feeling guilty for not being there; just how she still felt guilty for Hirotaka's death even though she hadn't been there, even though what had happened to him had been beyond her control.

Monty turned to look at her, then he tried to smile. "Thank you. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but…" he paused, not really know how to explain himself. Kim just nodded.

"I know what you mean, believe me."

Monty sighed and was about to say something else, then he paused as he saw Bates was now standing. "Would you like me to make us some tea, young sir?" he asked quietly, and Monty was absurdly grateful to him, more for the familiar and reassuring calmness he was showing than because of the thought of tea itself. Of course it didn't escape him that Bates was also in need of an excuse to leave the room for at least a few minutes to recollect and ponder over what had happened, but how could he blame him?

"It would be very appreciated," he gave a weak smile "Earl Grey?"

This time Bates gave him a faint smile. "Of course, young sir, as always."

Kim and Ron exchanged a glance as Bates left before they silently turned to look at Monty – who, on the other hand, didn't look back at them: he was simply staring down at the floor, a frown on his face, and Kim could tell his brain had to be working frantically to find an explanation… and was drawing blanks. Kim felt even worse for him, but she couldn't think of anything she could say to make him feel any better. Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be willing to try.

He cleared his throat before speaking after minutes of heavy silence. "You know, uh… this isn't so bad. I mean, okay, it is bad, but… you can keep all this from happening once you get back."

Monty shook his head. "And how? I don't even know what went wrong," he gave a sound of frustration before running his hand through his hair, ruffling them, and it made Ron wince how much more like Monkey Fist he looked now.

"I don't know, but… you'll figure out a way," Ron tried to sound optimistic "and besides, you know how to help your mother – just get an elevator in the castle or something, and she won't need to get downstairs at night," he suggested.

For one time's sake his suggestion seemed to have the desired effect, for Monty raised his gaze and glanced at him as if he had never seen him before. "That's a good idea," he muttered, an hopeful expression on his face "it will be my first action when I get back home – I won't let her die like that, and maybe if she's there she'll be able to… to stop whatever happens," he seemed a little less hopeful on that, and then his smile disappeared and he suddenly seemed scared.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked.

"What if I save her only to… to let _him_ hurt her later if she gets in the way?" he reasoned aloud, his eyes widening in horror at the thought. If Monkey Fist was really ready to do everything he had to do become the Monkey Master, was how could he be sure it was really below him harming his own mother if he had to? The thought was simply unbearable. He turned back to Kim and Ron. "You know him. Do you think he'd get that far?" he asked, clearly fearing the answer.

"Well…" Kim hesitated, not really knowing what kind of answer she could give him. Monkey Fist was insane and obsessed, and he had already proven himself more then willing to kill with his bare hands anyone who stood in his way – Hirotaka's death had been the proof. Still, did she think he would harm his own mother should she become an obstacle to him? She didn't know.

Thankfully she didn't have to reply, for Bates walked back in with a tray – it looked like he had made tea for everyone – and Monty turned his attention back to him. "Here, young sir," Bates said, placing the tray on the small table in front of him "I made tea for you too, of course," he added, turning to Kim and Ron "forgive me for not asking whether you wished some or not, I was… a little shaken, I'm afraid."

"No problem," Kim smiled a little and reached to take a cup, blowing on the hot liquid a little – she didn't feel like burning her throat – before she turned to look at Monty again, ignoring Ron's yelps as he realized at his own expenses just how hot the tea was.

"Thanks," Monty murmured, taking his cup and trying to keep his hands steady while he focused on the familiar warmth in his hands, but Bates must have noticed how his hands were trembling while he held it, for he frowned a little.

"That tea is rather hot, young sir – you might want to put it down before you get burnt," he said, and it somehow struck Kim how oddly protective he seemed now.

The boy shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he said before finally taking a sip of tea. He couldn't tell if it was the familiar taste or the fact he finally got to drink something hot – he hadn't even realized how _cold_ he felt – but after a few sips he felt a little better, and his hands were not shaking anymore.

"How do you manage to drink that before burning your tongue?" Ron managed to mumble despite the swelling tongue, and with his mouth half open he was such an amusing sight that Monty couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Practice," he simply said before turning back to Bates, then he frowned as he realized that he was glancing a little nervously towards the window. He didn't look downright scared, but… he certainly looked worried. "Bates?" he called out a little uncertainly "is something bothering you? Aside from the obvious," he gave a dry smile.

Bates recoiled. "I… nothing in particular, young sir, I was simply wondering…" he turned to Kim "Miss Possible, are you certain that you were not, how could I say… followed you while coming here?"

Kim shook her head. "No, nobody followed us. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Bates seemed uncomfortable, shifting his weight from one leg to the other "I suppose you can imagine it wouldn't be safe for me if… you see…" he shot an almost guilty glance at Monty, but before he added anything else Ron spoke up.

"Oh, I get it – you're afraid Monkey Fist will get here to make you pay for giving us info, or for not letting him know right away that we're here?" he asked.

Bates sighed. "Yes, that's pretty much what I fear."

Kim shrugged. "Then you don't have to worry, we-"

"I don't believe this!" Monty protested, loudly enough for everyone to turn and glance at him. He was holding the cup so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "I wouldn't lay a finger on you! You know that! I can't believe he would… would he…?" he sounded suddenly hesitant now, as if reminded of his own fear on whether Monkey Fist could go as far as harming his mother should she try to stop him in any way.

Bates hesitated, then he slowly nodded. Kim couldn't tell to what point he simply didn't want to lie to Monty and to what point he hoped that the more he knew of the kind of man Monkey Fist was, the more chances there would be that he wouldn't turn out the same way once more. "I'm afraid so, young sir," he said slowly, almost painfully "milord… Monkey Fist… didn't hesitate to threaten me in case I should ever turn out to be a nuisance to him the day I left service. He said he wouldn't kill me because I had served him well and he did still trust me to some extent, but he made it rather clear that should I ever…" he paused again, this time clearly unable to go on.

There was a brief, heavy silence in the room for a few moments, and even though he was sitting Kim could see Monty shifting back as if he had just received a punch straight to his face. He opened his mouth to speak then closed it again a few times, as if his brain was unable to process the fact one of his worst fears had just been confirmed. "He… _what_?" he finally shouted, jumping on his feet and letting the cup fall on the ground, his whole body shaking with rage "no, it can't be! I don't believe you! He couldn't… I couldn't…!"

"I know _you_ wouldn't, young sir," Bates said quickly "but… I fear _he_ would."

A bitter laugh escaped from Monty's lips. "And is there any difference? It's me, Bates! It's still _me_! Can you look at me straight in the eyes and say it's different?" he took a step forward "that's an _order_, Bates! Look at me and say-" he trailed off with a surprised gasp as someone grabbed his shoulders and forced him to turn. He blinked as he realized there were two brown eyes staring straight in his – two brown eyes that looked extremely serious for a change.

"It's different. You are different. You are not Monkey Fist," Ron pretty much spelled out, then he smiled and let go of him "see? And all while looking in your eyes, as you asked. Nice eye colour, by the way. You have no idea how lucky you are."

Monty stared at him for a few minutes as if he were just fallen there from the moon, then he gave a snort that might have been a muffled laugh. "My, aren't you odd," he said "I do appreciate what you're trying to do, I really do. But the point is-"

"The point is that it wasn't you to threaten Bates, and to fiddle with monkey magic, and get your hands and feet mutated and to steal stuff," Ron insisted "I mean, yeah, it was you, but… at the same time it wasn't you, okay?"

"I'm afraid I'm not following."

"Well…" Ron scratched his head, clearly trying to think of a better way to put what he had in mind "look, I'm no expert on genetics and stuff like DNAmy, but-"

"Do I even want to know who-?"

"Nevermind," Ron cut him off "the point is that even if I know nothing of genetics, I know that what a person is _isn't_ just a matter of genes. Okay, they can be cool genes and make you look dashingly handsome with a cool voice or sucky ones and make you skinny or short or with a squeaky voice like-"

"Ron?" Kim called out "you're getting a little out of topic here."

He paused for a moment, then he grinned sheepishly. "Uh… right. Dude, what I'm saying is that what makes a person is not just the gene code or something. There is a lot of other stuff we get through, and things change, and people change, and they make some choices that can be great or can be incredibly stupid – like that time I tried to mix Bueno Nacho Hot Sauce with bubblegum… no, okay, scratch the last part," he said quickly as he noticed the puzzled looks he was getting from both Monty and Bates – Kim, on the other hand, seemed to have understood where he was getting and was smiling slightly at him "what I mean is that yeah, you may be him, but you still are _not_. So why the heck should you feel bad for stuff you didn't do yet and will _never_ do now that you know better?"

There were a few moments of silence as Ron finally stopped, only broken by Ron's panting while trying to catch his breath after the tirade and Rufus' enthusiastic clapping. "Thanks, buddy," he said, exchanging something remarkably similar to a high-five with the small creature before turning back to Monty. "So, uh… did I convince you, or I just lost you after the first ten sentences or so?"

"I…uh…" Monty swallowed and didn't add anything for a few moments, then he drew in a deep breath and smiled a little. "You might be right. I didn't do anything, not yet, I…" he finally scowled "I refuse to take any blame for something I haven't done!" he finally exclaimed, his hands balling in tight fists.

Yes, that was it – why should he feel guilty for something he never did? He still couldn't know what had happened to him in some indefinite moment in the future, but he would make sure that never happened again, no matter what. He didn't believe in whatever that madman had been blabbering about destiny, he didn't believe in destiny _at all_ – there were only the choices he could make, and this time he'd make the _right_ ones. And even if destiny did exist, he would _change_ it. He would change his future, he would-

"Ow!" Monty yelped as Ron expressed his approval by patting his back with a little too much energy.

"That's the spirit, dude!" he exclaimed.

"I suppose it is," Monty muttered with a slight grimace, his hand reaching to rub the back of his shoulder before he turned back to Bates. "You have my word that once time will be restored to its course, he will never come to be. You will never even know he existed, because he never _will_."

Bates stared at him for a few moments before a hopeful expression showed on his face. For a moment he seemed about to hold out his hand, and his arm moved a little, then he probably decided it wouldn't be proper and nodded. "I wish you the best luck, young sir."

"Luck?" Monty made a vague gesture with this hand "I won't need _luck_. That's a promise I will keep, no matter the cost. I will not fail you or…" he paused, and Kim could tell he was thinking of his mother again "I won't fail you. Never again."

"But, young sir," Bates shook his head, looking a little awkward "if I were presumptuous enough to ever feel like someone I served for years failed _me_… it wouldn't be you, young sir. Not _you_."

Monty seemed taken aback and somehow embarrassed for a few moments, then he sighed and gave Bates a nod. "Thank you, Bates."

Kim could have sworn she had just heard Rufus noisily blowing his nose in Ron's pocket.

* * *

"They have him."

Monkey Fist's words resounded in the dojo, causing his minions to wince – none of them had realized he had finally snapped from his trance. Despite being startled, however, they were all relieved to see that he was a lot calmer now, almost thoughtful. One of them gathered the courage to ask him if he wished a cup of tea.

"Yes, do make me one," Monkey Fist said with a brief nod before glancing at the Tempus Simia, a focused frown on his face "they might have him, but this doesn't mean I've lost. They're too kind hearted, too _heroic_ to do what would solve their problems – finish him to finish me," he thought aloud. No, they had to be thinking they could stop him without having to do get their hands bloody. They were probably hoping they could somehow wipe him from existence by filling his younger self's mind with their foolish ideas, by trying not to let him know where his destiny lay.

The thought made him scowl. If they succeeded, any moment he might find himself back as a simple archaeologist, nothing of a fool glad to simply bring back to surface bits of human history – and worst of all, he wouldn't ever know he could be so much more, never know what he was meant to be: he would be completely ignorant of his own destiny.

"I can't let it happen," Monkey Fist seethed, his eyes narrowing as he kept staring at the Tempus Simia, which seemed to be staring back at him. They had to be stopped, of course, but he hesitated in using the idol again: going back in time had turned out to be anything but a good idea, and using it again with his own younger self on the loose in the time stream could have been too dangerous.

The monkey man gritted his teeth as he thought of how he had butchered the best chance he had ever had to shape the world to his will. Perhaps he truly did get too far back in time, and trying to talk to a foolish boy whose eyes were not yet open to his destiny had been a mistake. Now he was going to have to fix things quickly, or else everything he now was might have faded into non-existence. He couldn't and wouldn't let it happen; and that meant, simply enough, that he was going to have to track down the boy yet again and actually _show_ him the greatness he could achieve, the power he could aspire to. Once that was fixed, once he finally knew what his path to greatness was, he could finally put the Tempus Simia to a good use.

After all, could it be so hard finding the boy? He doubted very much Team Possible had brought him back in his own time with him still out with the Tempus Simia – how _could_ they travel in time as well? – which could only mean they had either hidden him in another time or were keeping him close to them so that they could be sure he was… _protected_ from his own older self.

The former was a possibility he could not exclude, but he was under the impression such a solution was not something that would fit simpletons such as Possible and Stoppable; after all, they were both foolish enough not to keep their home's location a secret. Yes, they probably would be keeping his younger self with them, thinking they alone could simply keep him away should he show up, keep him from fulfilling his destiny.

But they were wrong if they thought so. So very wrong.


	8. Monkey Fist

_A/N__: sorry for the late update, I had some busy weeks and other plot bunnies for other fandoms stole my brain for a while. It happens.  
This chapter was supposed to be quite different. The second part of it was done already, but then I ended up writing too much and the chapter would have become too long, so what was supposed to be the second part of this chapter will be the first part of the next one. That's what I get for being unable to plan my stories ahead._

* * *

"C'mon, dude, you should show at least a little interest! I mean, it's Zombie Mayhem – the best game since Mrs. Pacman!" Ron protested, though barely turning to look at Monty as he spoke, all his attention focused on the screen. Rufus was still ten zombies ahead of him, but he could catch up if only he managed to get a better weapon…!

"I see nothing interesting into some… game that involves shooting at decaying corpses that shouldn't, by logic, be doing anything that doesn't involve staying still and being _dead_," Monty retorted, not even glancing at the screen over the newspaper he was reading in hopes to find something, _anything_ that could help him tell where Monkey Fist could be hiding. Not that he truly hoped it could help since not even Kim and Ron's _expert_ seemed to be able to locate him – the fact he didn't use any kind of technological equipment apparently made him difficult to track down – but he was starting to get desperate enough to try.

Still, nothing of what he read was of any relevance for him. He let out a slight grunt and put the newspaper back on the couch before glancing at Kim, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground talking to that Wade person. "So, did you manage to fix it?" she was asking, clearly referring to… whatever device they used to travel back and forth in time.

"Yes and no," was the reply "I still couldn't manage to wire it so that it could let you travel where you want to – you can still only get into places and times where Monkey Fist travelled already. But I could give it some more power so that it can get three people and… well, and a naked mole rat, back and forth several times. After that it needs time to recharge, though, because time travelling consumes a lot of battery. Keep an eye on it, okay? If the battery dies on you while in a place and time in which it's impossible to recharge, you could be in trouble."

"Do you mean we could end up being stuck in that time?" Kim asked with a frown.

"No, not really. The Kimmunicator's battery can recharge from sunlight. But it takes almost a whole day to charge it enough for time travelling, and who knows what Monkey Fist could do meanwhile."

"I see. So that's an advantage he has over us – he can travel when he wants, where he wants and as many times he wants, while we can only follow him whenever and wherever he went… and with a limited number of travels at our disposal."

"In a nutshell, that's it. But as long as he isn't aware of these advantages, I think we can work around that. I'm sure you can stop him anyway."

"But how, if we can't even find him?" Monty asked, keeping Kim from saying whatever she was about to say "I thought you could intercept him whenever he travels though time!"

"Of course I can," Wade said defensively "I can pick the alterations in the time-space continuum, but that's all. I couldn't track him down so far because he hasn't entered the time stream yet. In other words, he didn't travel in time again. He must be having second thought about the utility of time travelling after what happened. Things sure didn't turn out the way he wanted. He must be afraid he could make things even worse if he messes with time any further."

Monty scoffed. "Worse than this?"

"Worse for himself," Wade replied "try to see things from his point of view – his past self was taken in by his enemies and he doesn't know what it could mean for him. For all he knows, we might be planning to eliminate you so that _he_ never comes to be."

"Reassuring," Monty said dryly "are you?"

"Hey, of course not!" Kim protested "but it's probably what _he_ would do. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to get back in time to try getting me and Ron out of his way while we're still little and can't fight back…"

"I doubt it would be a smart idea," Monty said, trying to ignore the coldness in his stomach at the knowledge it was his own older self they were talking about "I wouldn't put it past him thinking about it, but I'm with you in a time I don't belong to – I seem to recall you mentioning how the normal rules of the time stream do not apply to me as for now. He can't know what kind of effect could have on _me_, and thus on him, in case you faded into non-existence right now with me in this time. He won't dare."

Wade nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of what I thought as well."

"And where does that leave us?" Ron asked, finally taking a break from Zombie Mayhem.

Monty growled in frustration. "Right at the beginning once more – we can only wait for him to do something. _Anything_," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair "as much as I'd like never having to see him again… what?" he asked as he noticed the odd look Ron was giving him.

"Er… nothing," Ron smiled a little sheepishly "just… could you quit doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Ruffling you hair. Not that you don't look cool like that, it's just that it makes you kinda look like, you know… okay, forget about it," he said quickly, wincing a little under Monty's glare "don't glare at me like that."

"No need to worry, I'm sure he'll do something soon," Kim said "if you're getting restless, then you can bet he must be just going cra-"

"KIM!"

She immediately trailed off, all of them turning back to the Kimmunicator. "What?"

"I just picked some disturbances in the time-space continuum!" Wade said, his fingers moving so fast across the keyboard that it was hard following their movements "he just used the Time Monkey!"

"When?" Monty asked, jumping down the couch to crouch next to Kim "_when_ did he go?"

"Past, once again. But way further back than before. He's… wow, now that's far. He's in 265 a.C."

Ron blinked. "What? What is he doing that far back?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure," Kim replied "and _where_ is he?"

"Let me see… he's in Japan, on Kyūshū Island."

"Kyūshū Island?" Kim repeated before turning to Monty "does it ring any bell?"

"Well…" Monty frowned in thought, absentmindedly rubbing his chin "in the third century… can you tell in which prefecture he is?"

"Well, yes, but back then I doubt things were the same…"

"I'm aware of that," Monty snapped "but if you can think of an quicker way to determinate where exactly he is, be my guest!"

"Oh, right. Wait a sec… he's in what's currently the Kagoshima Prefecture."

That had to mean something, for Monty's eyes suddenly widened. "In the western half?"

Wade took a closer look. "Yeah!"

Ron blinked. "How did you know that? What's in that place? Do you know why Monkey Fist went there?"

"Perhaps," Monty replied "the western half of the current Kagoshima Prefecture was once known as the Satsuma Province. I read of it. Back in the third century, there was… a mystical sect active in that area. Not much is known of it, but some of the text it left behind bespoke of a powerful being they could use against their enemies – the Stone Guardian of Satsuma."

"This is so not sounding good," Kim commented.

"Tell me it's not a monkey," Ron said hopefully.

"Not at all."

"Oh, great!"

"It's a gorilla."

Ron groaned. "Aw, c'mon! You just said it wasn't a monkey!"

Monty shrugged. "As a matter of fact, it's not. Gorillas are _apes_. I'm certain you're aware of the difference."

"Dude, they all grab stuff with their _feet_. It's all I need to know!"

"Hey, guys, fight about that later, okay?" Kim cut in before Monty could retort "we've got a stone guardian gorilla thing from the past to worry about, given that is the reason why Monkey Fist went all the way back then."

"I honestly can't think of any other reason, though I'm not sure how he thinks he could make it work. Only the sect knew how to awaken the guardian when it was needed, and I can't picture them letting anyone else control their… what?" he asked as she noticed the look Kim and Ron were exchanging.

"I don't think he would have even gone there and then if he didn't know exactly how to take the stone guardian from the sect and awaken it," Kim finally said "until now, he never went after anything without a plan and without knowing how to make the items work. We should go after him and stop him before he manages to go on with his plan, whatever it is."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Monty asked impatiently "let's get going!"

Kim shook her head. "Ron and I are going. You stay here."

"What?" Monty snapped "you can't be serious! This is about my life more than anyone else's! You can't be seriously expecting me to simply sit back and-"

"That's exactly why you must stay here," Kim retorted "_you_ are his target – he's desperate to get you back."

"So what? It would be useless," Monty said stubbornly "he wouldn't harm me unless he wanted to cause harm to himself in the process, and I highly doubt he can brainwash me somehow!"

"You'd be surprised," Kim said dryly "I've seen more brainwashing devices, obedience chips and memory erasers than you can imagine. It isn't Monkey Fist's field, but he won't hesitate to get his hands on that kind of stuff to make sure he can fix the mistake he made by letting you know the future beforehand and… what is it, Wade?"

"I, well…" Wade coughed a little "of course, we have to get back the Tempus Simia from Monkey Fist and stuff, but… have you considered that once we stop him it may be the best solution, getting Monty's memory of these events erased before we send him back in his time and restore the time stream as it was before?"

"WHAT?" Monty shouted, jumping on his feet "I can't believe you'd even suggest that! You're supposed to be a _genius_, and… and you're supposed to be on my side, aren't you?" he asked, turning to glare at Kim and Ron.

"Hey, sure we are, dude!" Ron said quickly "it's just that… well…"

"Wade does have a point," Kim added, a little reluctantly "altering the time stream is not a good thing. Right now we're forced by the circumstances to go with it, but… maybe the best thing would restoring things as they were once we've taken the Tempus Simia from Monkey Fist."

Monty scowled, the thought clearly bothering him immensely. "I'm not going to _let_ you!" he snapped "you… you have no right to just take my memories from me and pretend that nothing happened! No right!"

Kim sighed. "Look, I don't like this either, but you're not supposed to have them at all to begin with, and-"

"But now I _do_! You can't just toy with my mind and take them from me!" Monty protested "I've got a chance to set things right! You can't take _that_ from me!"

Ron nodded. "He has a point, KP," he told her "I mean, okay, getting things back like they were before would be the most correct thing to do, but I'm not sure it would be the right one. It sure wouldn't be for the best. We'd still have to deal with Monkey Fist, and… well, Hirotaka…" he paused and glanced at the floor uneasily.

Kim felt as though her insides had just been tied into a knot. That was true, if they decided to erase Monty's recent memories to get the course of history right back on track, there would be nothing they could do to keep Hirotaka from dying. It would feel like sentencing him to death again, and for what? To cling to a principle, to the fact history just could never be altered, no matter what? Was it worth it?

_No. No, it isn't. It can't be._

"You're right. We can't do that. We won't," she said, turning to nod at Monty "you have my word we won't. But now we need you to stay here while we deal with Monkey Fist, okay? The sooner we take the Tempus Simia back, the sooner you can be back in your own time and start setting things right."

Monty seemed still doubtful, but he apparently decided he could trust her, for he finally nodded. "Fine," he finally said, sitting back on the couch with a scowl "I suppose I'd only hinder you in any case."

"Hey, you're pretty good at fighting," Kim said, trying to lighten up his mood "we just don't want to take any risk. Wade, we're ready to go after-"

"Wait," the boy cut him off, once again focused on something on the screen of his computer "there's another disturbance…"

"What, another freaky time-travelling monkey?" Ron asked fearfully "is there a discount for those or what?"

"No, nothing like that – I think Monkey Fist is using the Tempus Simia again. He seems to be getting back to the present… and he's bringing something from the past with him. Something big."

"The Stone Guardian of Satsuma," Monty said gravely.

"That was fast," Kim said, barely holding back a groan "_where_ is he heading now?"

Wade typed something. "To the States. He should be…" he paused, his eyes suddenly widening before he yelled "_Kim, he's right outside Ron's_-"

His last words were covered by the sound of a wall collapsing under a powerful blow. Ron, the closest one to the wall, yelped and stumbled back against Kim as something massive and wielding what looked like a huge stone sword stepped heavily inside the living room – a giant stone Gorilla.

"Giant monkey! Giant monkey!" Ron shrieked, scrambling back while both Kim and Monty took a fighting stance. In his pocket, Rufus whimpered.

"I see you have not yet grasped the basic difference between monkeys and apes, but no matter," a calm, collected voice reached their ears. Monty gritted his teeth as he saw Monkey Fist stepping forward from behind the Stone Guardian. "I expected nothing different from you. I believe, on the other hand, that at least someone in this room heard of the Stone Guardian of Satsuma," Monkey Fist added with a smirk, his eyes fixed on his younger self "you now do see the power that might be yours, don't you, my boy?"

"Don't move yet," Kim said quietly "he's trying to get you making the first move."

"I'm not inexperienced enough to fall for that," was the reply.

Monkey Fist chucked at their exchange. "I see you've been doing your best to keep him unaware of where his destiny rests. But I can fix that. Hand him over, Kim Possible."

Kim's eyes narrowed. "So not happening," she said "so why don't you try unleashing that pretty new toy of yours and watch as we turn it into rubbles?"

The monkey man shook his head. "Ah, but it would be such a shame if my own self was harmed in the battle, would it? No, I have a better idea. Why don't you sit back and enjoy watching this… _toy_ of mine in action?" he asked before snapping his fingers. Only an instant later his monkey ninjas appeared, dragging something… no, someone along with them.

"Mom! Dad!" Ron cried out, his eyes widening as the monkey ninjas dropped the bound, unconscious forms of his parents right in front of the giant stone gorilla. Monkey Fist raised his hand, and the creature lifted its sword right upon the captives before stilling, and waiting.

"I suppose you do know what will happen the moment I bring down my hand, don't you?" Monkey Fist asked darkly.

Monty growled, something boiling hot and bitter in his chest. "You disgust me," he hissed, his hands balling into tight fists.

"Only because you don't know any better, boy," was the reply "but you'll learn to. Come with me, and no harm will be done to these two," he nodded towards Ron's parents "as for your… _friends_, that depends on them. If they stay out of my way, I have no more reason to crush them than I have to crush an insect."

"Don't listen to him. We'll find a way around this," Kim said, but it didn't take much for Monty to register the worry in her voice: with the monkey ninjas between them and the giant gorilla there weren't many chance for them to stop it before it dealt a deathly blow to Ron's parents. Monty was about to snap at her and ask what exactly she thought they could do, but he paused as he felt… _something_ climbing up his leg, something small and agile.

_Rufus?_

He frowned a little in confusion, but he stayed still as he felt the small rodent climbing further up and then slipping something in his pocket – something small and metallic, at least judging by how cold it felt through the fabric. Then Rufus silently slid down his leg again, careful not to let Monkey Fist or his minions see him, and Monty suddenly knew what he had to do – he had to trust Kim on the fact that she could, indeed, do anything.

"Fine. Leave them alone and I'm coming with you," he finally said, staring straight at Monkey Fist.

"What? NO!" Kim shouted, reaching to put a hand on his shoulder "look, we can…!"

"You can come after us later. But now there is nothing you can do without risking their lives," Monty said, nodding towards Ron's parents "it's the only solution."

"But…!"

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing, KP," Ron said behind them, and Monty knew with complete certainty that he knew what Rufus has just done "we don't have much choice now."

Monkey Fist laughed. "Wise words from the buffoon. I wonder what this world is coming to," he smirked "you should listen to him, Kim Possible. Live today, fight tomorrow – as long as there will be a tomorrow for you to live and fight into," he laughed again and turned to Monty "come here, and I'll let these two go."

Monty tried to ignore the way his insides had clenched. "Fine," he muttered before stepping forward. The monkey ninjas eyed at him with suspicion and some curiosity, but they did part to let him move closer to their master. Monkey Fist gave a dark chuckle and reached to take his younger self's arm, yanking him closer, and before he knew it Monty found himself surrounded by monkeys and with his arms bound together behind his back. He gave the rope a useless yank and scowled as he realized that those monkeys knew how to tie knots – and above the joint, too. There was no way he could break free with his fingers unable to reach the knots.

"Very well. Drag these two out of the way," he said, gesturing for some monkey ninjas to move Ron's parents away from the Stone Guardian "as for you, my guardian – crush them!" he exclaimed, pointing at Kim and Ron. The stone gorilla immediately lunged forward, trying to hit them, and the last thing Monty saw before he was dragged through a swirling, dark portal was Kim leaping backwards to avoid being crushed; only instants later he was surrounded by darkness, the air suddenly hot and damp, and he stumbled over something that felt a lot like a root.

Unable to use his arms to stop the fall he fell forward, but someone grabbed the back of his shirt before he hit the ground. "You're not used to the jungle yet, are you? Of course not. But you will be, don't worry."

Monty scowled and turned to face Monkey Fist. His eyes slowly growing accustomed to the weak light cast by the moon, he could see that they were indeed in a jungle. A tropical rainforest, unless the dim light was tricking him. "I have to admit your monkeys know how to tie knots," he said dryly.

His older self chuckled. "I instructed them well. I know better than anyone else what your current skills are," he said "I'd love to untie you, but I'm afraid you'd try to escape if I did. Wouldn't you?"

"At the first chance I got."

"I expected this reply as well. But no matter, you won't stay in your ignorance for long. Now stay close to me – you don't want to fall again, do you?" he asked, reaching to grab his arm and gesturing for his monkey ninjas to follow as he began walking through the dark jungle as though he was simply strolling in Hyde Park.

"Where are we going?"

"To a safe place where we can speak without worrying that a jaguar could interrupt or Team Possible could track us down. I don't know how they can travel in time and know _when_ I went, but they won't be able to track us down so easily once they reach the jungle."

Monty thought again of the device Rufus had slipped in his pocket and did his best not to smirk. "So the stone guardian was meant to be a distraction."

"Obviously. Of course, I would be glad to know the Stone Guardian managed to smash at least one of them, but I know better than counting too much on that."

"Always thinking ahead, aren't you?"

"That's something that never changed, wouldn't you say?"

"Definitely. How did you manage to take the Guardian from the sect of Satsuma?"

"By disguising myself as one of them. A good disguise helped me to get the Tempus Simia already; I figured out it would work again," Monkey Fist replied, and for one brief instant Monty could have sworn he looked almost uncomfortable – but he couldn't tell the cause, so he said nothing about it.

* * *

"Well, that was a stroke of luck," Ron commented, still looking at the stone gorilla as it stayed still as… well, as a statue, it arm holding the sword raised in preparation to deliver a blow it could never deal "I mean, what were the odd that a truck filled with quick drying cement would happen to pass right here right now?"

"Yeah, at least we didn't need to resort to plan B and take down half of the electric lines in town," Kim commented, rubbing a sore spot on her shoulder before grabbing the Kimmunicator "Wade, tell me you can tell where and _when_ Monkey Fist went next."

"Sure. He didn't go too far, time-wise, just a couple of days back; he must have realized that no matter when he goes, we can follow him. What worried me is _where_ he went," Wade said, shaking his head "in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. By now he could be hidden anywhere, and tracking him down is going to be impossible – you'll have to go looking for him blindly, and he sure knows that place better than any of us…"

"Not necessarily," Ron said with a grin "we have an ace up our sleeve. Well, in Monty's pocket. All thanks to Rufus," he added, and from his shoulder Rufus flashed a victory sign.

Kim blinked, taken aback, then she smiled as she realized _that_ had to be the reason why Ron had agreed to let Monkey Fist take Monty so quickly. "What kind of ace?"

"Rufus put a tracker in his pocket," Ron explained "I still had one from when we put some on Drakken's hover-jet, and Rufus used it to make sure we could track him down. Let's just follow them in the past, and we'll get the signal right on the Kimmunicator," he snapped his fingers with a wide grin.

"Great thinking, Rufus!" Kim exclaimed, causing Rufus to mutter something that sounded suspiciously close to 'no big'. "Wade, we're going after them. Send someone over here to clean up this mess, okay?"

"Sure. Good luck!"

"Now lets' get going, okay?" Ron seemed suddenly in a hurry "I _really_ don't want to be here when my mother wakes up and sees what happened to the living room."

* * *

They had walked in silence for quite some time and Monkey Fist had to grab him more than once to keep him from falling – the jungle ground was treacherous to walk onto, he certainly wasn't wearing the right kind of shoes to do so and the fact his arms were bounded behind his back didn't help his balance. By the time Monkey Fist stopped, ordering his monkey ninjas to do the same, Monty was tired and his shirt and hair stuck to his sweaty skin.

He said nothing as they climbed down what looked like a hole in the ground concealed by some bushes to walk into a small underground cave; it was obvious Monkey Fist had been using it for a while, for when the monkey ninjas began lighting the candles scattered around he could see the various monkey items and tapestries inside.

"Do you wish for some tea?" Monkey Fist asked idly, sitting cross-legged on a small mat on the ground and gesturing for him to do the same. Monty complied, if with some difficulties due to the fact his arms were still firmly tied behind his back, and he pretended not to have noticed the fact the Tempus Simia was on the ground right beside his captor.

"I can't see why not," he said dryly "are you going to untie me so that I can drink by myself?"

Monkey Fist chuckled. "As soon as the tea will be ready, yes. After all, there is only one exit, and I have monkey ninjas guarding it. Besides, I have high hopes that you won't be trying to escape anymore once you finally listen to what I have to tell you."

Monty snorted. "I doubt that."

"You'll see. You wish for some Earl Grey, I suppose?"

"Is that even a question? You're supposed to know how I like my tea."

"Very well," Monkey Fist nodded at one of his monkey ninjas before turning back to his younger self "I hope we can finally talk to each other like two civilized human beings."

"Says the monkey man," Monty said wryly.

Monkey Fist's eyes narrowed. "These limbs made me stronger and more agile than I could have possibly been otherwise," he said quietly, dangerously so "I couldn't hope to be a valid Monkey Master without an adequate body to match the spiritual power Mystical Monkey Power will grant me. Speaking of which, I trust you'll be more inclined to believe in such power now that you saw it working with your own eyes."

"You could say I reconsidered my stance on Mystical Monkey Power's existence," Monty conceded.

"Very well. So do tell me, now that you accepted that Mystical Monkey Power does, indeed, exist, why shouldn't you also accept the fact there is also a Chosen One meant to be the Monkey Master, someone capable to possess said power and use it without bounds?"

Monty has to admit that made sense in a twisted, megalomaniac kind of way. "Fine, then. Let's say there really is a Chosen One fated to become the Monkey Master and hold full control over Mystical Monkey Power in all its forms – why should I believe _you_ are that someone? What proof do you have of that?"

Monkey Fist waved a simian hand dismissively. "Proof? No proof is needed. I am destined to be the Monkey Master simply because I'm the only one worthy such title. No one else in the world worked as hard as I did for it, no one else studied it as extensively, and no one else has my same level of skills in Tai Shing Pek Kwar _and_ knowledge of the ancient legends. No one is more deserving of that title than I am. I believe in destiny, and I believe this is _our_ destiny. I suppose that was my mistake with you – you don't believe in destiny yet, do you?"

"No. All I believe into is self-realization," Monty retorted "I create my own destiny. I work to get where I want to get, and whether or not I succeed entirely depends on me, on whether or not I _deserved_ to succeed. Destiny is a fairytale for those who strive for something they don't deserve and an excuse for the weak who were unable to obtain what they wanted."

"Is that so?" Monkey Fist asked, an amused smirk on his lips "I have to point out that your view doesn't differ from mine. As you said, I create my own destiny," he lifted his simian hand, clenching and unclenching it for emphasis "I strive to become the Monkey Master because I deserve to succeed and thus to fulfil my destiny. What I did until now was to _earn_ what should rightfully be mine. Nothing can be obtained without sacrifice and effort. Look at me, boy, think of how much work it took me coming this far, of how much I had to sacrifice for it – the family fortune, my career, my reputation, the possibility of an easy and carefree life. How am I _not_ deserving of that power?"

His statement struck Monty somehow – it was true, now that he put it that way their views on destiny didn't differ that much – but then he was reminded of _what_ he had done in his quest for power and what he had tried to do back in Middleton, and his expression hardened again. "Do you prefer the short list or the long one?" he asked.

"Whichever you prefer, I suppose," Monkey Fist said, seemingly unbothered "but why don't we discuss it over some tea?"

"Uh?" Monty turned to see that one of the monkey ninjas had come back holding a tray with two steaming cups of tea on it. It put the tray between him and Monkey Fist and looked at its master for a moment. Monkey Fist nodded, and the small animal went to undo the ropes that kept Monty's arms tied together. He grunted a little and began rubbing his arms to reactivate the circulation. "And so they can even make tea. Impressive. Ever considered joining a circus?" he asked. He wouldn't run – he only had to take time.

The monkey man scowled, but he didn't retort. "I'd suggest you to drink your tea while it's hot. That's how you like it after all," he said, picking up his own cup. There were a few moments of silence as they both sipped the tea, and Monty's eyes darted to the Tempus Simia again. Now that his hands were free, a moment's distraction was all he would need to-

"I know what you're thinking, boy. You should forget it," Monkey Fist's voice made him recoil – he was staring at him coldly, his face stony, before he put down the cup and called for his monkey ninjas to take the idol and bring it away, somewhere in one of the side caves and away from him "I wouldn't want to have to tie you up once more."

Monty gritted his teeth. "Then you'll have to do a better job at trying to convince me you're not an insane megalomaniac."

"Why don't we reverse the question?" Monkey Fist suggested "I'd like to know what makes you think I _am_ insane. I know where I want to get and I'm doing what it takes to achieve it. I'll admit my goal and methods may appear… a touch unconventional, but other than that I see nothing wrong with what I did. It was _my_ family fortune I spent, _my_ body I had modified, _my_ career I sacrificed-"

"And what of the items you stole from museums?" Monty snapped "what of the ones you retrieved illegally and kept for yourself? That's unforgivable! No self-respecting archaeologist would…!"

"Those items were needed for me to fulfil my destiny," Monkey Fist cut him off "I knew their true potential and strived to use it – why should that power be wasted so that ignorant fools who knew nothing of it would watch them from the other side of a glass? Why be an archaeologist while you can achieve so much more?"

"And what of the people you put in danger?" Monty went on, too angered to listen to him anymore "I was told you took children captive, that you tried to murder both Ron Stoppable and a friend of his – and what of the fact you threatened Ron's parents?"

"That buffoon and the others got in the way," Monkey Fist snarled "hadn't they tried to keep me from taking what's rightfully mine-"

"Shut up!" Monty screamed, causing his older self to trail off "there is no excuse for that! And you think you deserve _anything_? You're nothing but a miserable criminal – you deserve nothing! I'm only glad father died before _you_ happened!"

That seemed to hit a nerve, for anger showed on the monkey man's face. "He wouldn't have understood."

"He would have simply known better," Monty snapped back "if you only were a _tenth_ the man he was-!"

"I'm far more than just a man – I'm destined to be a _god_!" Monkey Fist screamed with such rage that Monty fell silent, his heart skipping a beat – for one moment he had thought his older self would forget all instincts of self-preservation and lunge for his throat "nothing _matters_ compared to that! For me to fulfil my destiny, obstacles must be removed! There is a price, always, and I'm willing to do anything it takes to pay it!"

A long silence followed his outburst, finally broken by Monty's quiet voice. "I think you just proved one thing. You proved that you're insane. There is just nothing that matters to you but power, is there?"

Monkey Fist sneered. "Don't be foolish, boy – should there be anything above that?"

Monty glared back. "There is to me. Do tell me, _Monkey Fist_," he spat out the name he had chosen for himself like a piece of rotten meat "did you feel _anything_ at all when you knew mother had died while you were away looking after the jade monkeys? Or were you too glad to have your precious item to bother mourning her?"

His older self's posture stiffened. "It was an accident. She fell from the stairs at night," he said coldly "I don't know what lies Bates fed you about that, but even if I were there, there would have been nothing I could do to prevent it. I'm not to blame for the end she met."

"That's not what I asked! I asked if-" Monty began, but he trailed off as a sudden thought hit him, causing him to freeze. "Bates? What does Bates have to do with this? How do you know…?" he breathed, a sudden, horrible coldness spreading in his chest.

Monkey Fist bit his lower lip, clearly aware of the fact he had just slipped, but he couldn't take back what he had said. He sneered. "Did you think I wouldn't imagine to whom you'd turn to ask for explanations, the only person alive you could possibly think of?" he asked "I did pay him a visit. He was quite… cooperative. He told me you were there to ask questions with Team Possible – that's when I had the certainty they were hoping to erase me from existence by fooling you into believing I was crazy."

Monty found himself unable to speak for a few more moments, Bates' words resounding somewhere in the back of his mind.

_Milord… Monkey Fist… didn't hesitate to threaten me in case I should ever turn out to be a nuisance to him the day I left service. He said he wouldn't kill me because I had served him well and he did still trust me to some extent, but he made it rather clear that should I ever…_

No, God, no. It wasn't true. It _couldn't_ be true.

"What did you do to him?" Monty found himself asking, hearing his voice as if from a great distance.

"I did nothing to him. I asked a few questions and left. That's all," was Monkey Fist's cold reply, but Monty could recognize all the signs he was lying with the sharpest clarity – the slight stiffening of his shoulders, the unfocused look in his eyes, the slight clenching of his fists, and even the faintest trace of bitterness in his voice – and he _knew_ what had happened to Bates.

"No," he whispered "you can't have… you haven't… not Bates!"

Monkey Fist turned his gaze away, a furious scowl on his face, and he had to draw in a deep breath before he could face his younger self again. "He chose his own fate. He had been fairly warned," he said quietly.

The wounded animal's cry that echoed in the cave didn't really take Monkey Fist by surprise, nor did Monty's attempt to lunge for him – but he was far more experienced that the boy, and he could easily block the blow and send him tumbling on the ground. Monty immediately tried to get up, but Monkey Fist grabbed his arm and bent it behind his back, keeping him pinned down with easy and ignoring his screams for him to let him up and fight like a man. "Don't just stand there, you idiots," he snapped at the monkey ninjas who had ran inside the main cave after hearing Monty's cry "hand me the rope, we have to-"

Before he could even finish speaking something that looked like a black and red blur burst into the cave, and an instant later some of his monkey ninjas were thrown against the opposite wall. The look on Monkey Fist's face went from surprise to fury as his opponent stood in front of him, ready to fight. "Kim Possible," he seethed "how could you find me?"

"You underestimated us, Monkey Freak," Ron said, stumbling a little as he lowered himself inside the cave as well "but really, couldn't it be a nice five stars hotel for once…?"

Monkey Fist growled and was about to yell for his monkey ninjas to attack, but all he could utter was a gasp of pain and surprise as Monty twisted like a snake in his grip, breaking his arm free before rolling over and bringing his knee up to his chest to deliver a powerful kick to his older self's stomach. Thrown off balance, Monkey Fist could barely avoid tumbling on the ground – but by the time he turned to face his opponents again Kim was standing beside his younger self while Stoppable and the naked mole rat kept his monkey ninjas away by clumsily waving some branched in front of them.

"Murderer," Monty growled, his eyes positively murderous as he stared at him.

"Game's up, Monkey Fist," Kim was saying "where's the Tempus Simia?"

The monkey man smiled. "Not here for you to grab it, I'm afraid. And I'm also afraid that you're in a rather tight spot."

"Uh?" Kim turned to realize that they were actually surrounded, for the monkey ninjas had managed to drive Ron back until he was right behind her and Monty – and right behind Monkey Fist there was a stone wall. The cave was just too small for them to break the circle around them: there was simply not enough room to fight properly, and they were in numerical disadvantage. That might have not been so much of an issue usually, but Monty wasn't used to fight, and he could get in the way and do something stupid-

Her thoughts were cut off by Monty's enraged cry as he attacked Monkey Fist – talk about doing something stupid, Kim thought. Of course, it took only an instant for Monkey Fist to get him off himself and send him tumbling against Ron, only sparing him more seriously consequences because he wasn't stupid enough to harm his own younger self too much. The monkey ninjas immediately leapt on them to hold them down, and Kim realized that they were risking too much by fighting that fight – especially since the Tempus Simia was nowhere to be seen. They were going to have to wait for another occasion… and until then, they'd have to find another place for Monty to hide.

Kim caught a movement in the corner of her eye and turned just in time to block Monkey Fists' vicious attack. She dodged another blow and turned to yell at Rufus. "Help them rid of the monkeys, we must go!"

"You will never manage to hide _him_ from me, Kim Possible," Monkey Fist snarled, blocking her counter attack "I'll find him, no matter what – and I'll make sure he'll be freed from the ignorance you'd rather keep him into, one way or another!" he shouted, and Kim knew that the idea he could use some brainwashing or memory-erasing device on him wasn't too farfetched after all. He was desperate enough.

"If anyone here's ignorant, that's you," Kim snapped back "you just can't take a hint, can you? The fact your own _self_ can't stand you should tell you something!"

That seemed to hit a nerve, for Monkey Fist let out a cry of rage and tried to hit her – a mistake. Kim flipped back, avoiding his blow, and in the momentum both her feet connected with his chest, causing him to tumble backwards. She immediately landed on her feet and turned to see that Monty and Ron had managed to get the monkey ninjas off themselves – they had to go _now_, before either them or their master recollected enough to attack again. She took out her Kimmunicator and hit the right switch. "In the portal, quick!"

"Monkeys! Monkeys! Monkeys!" Ron screamed, immediately running into it as though his pants had caught fire, but Monty didn't even listen – he turned and tried to leap on Monkey Fist instead, and Kim had to grab his wrist to yank him back towards the portal.

"Let me go!" Monty screamed "let me go! He must pay for what he did! He must pay! I'll-!"

"He's going to pay _later_," Kim yelled back, and with one last yank she managed to pull him into the portal with her right before it closed once more.

* * *

"Has he spoken yet?"

"No. Not a word," Ron said quietly, glancing at Monty as he sat on the ground, facing away from them "can't blame him, really."

Kim sighed. "Me neither," she admitted. If news they got from the police once Wade managed to contact them had been a shock to her, it had to be at least a million times worse to Monty. She didn't think she was even going to ever forget his cry of anger and dismay when Wade had confirmed to them that Bates' dead body had been found in his own home, his neck broken; the police still knew nothing of the murderer, but there was no doubt in their minds of his identity. It looked like Hirotaka's was only the first life Monkey Fist had claimed in his quest – his insanity was only getting worse. She lowered her head. "Nothing of this would have happened if only we could keep the Tempus Simia safe when we could," she said mournfully.

"KP, this is not-"

"This is not your fault."

Both Kim and Ron fell silent and turned to look at Monty. He was still facing away from them. "It's Monkey Fist's, and no one else's. But no matter. Nothing of this will have happened once he's stopped and the normal course of history is restored. I promised that much, didn't I?"

She smiled a little. "Yes. And Bates was sure you'd keep that promise. I'm sure he wasn't wrong about that."

Monty gave a small, bitter laugh. "I can't recall him ever being wrong over anything," he said, finally getting up from his sitting position on the floor "but until that happens, I'm afraid neither you and your families are safe. No one is as long as I'm around. And I have been nothing but a burden so far."

Ron shook his head. "Hey, you're not a burden, really. Not any more than I usually am, honest. But… maybe it would be for the best if you stayed in a safer place than Middleton. You know… a more protected one."

Kim glanced at him. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" she asked "Ron, that's a good idea!"

"Er… it depends. Are you thinking what I think you think I'm thinking?"

"The Yamanouchi school," Kim said "isn't that what you're thinking?"

Ron brightened. "Yeah, that's just what I had in mind!"

"Yamanouchi school?" Monty repeated, the name oddly familiar – had he read it somewhere? "How would a _school_ be safer than any other place?"

"Well it's… a special kind of school," Kim told him, smiling a little "and I'm pretty sure you'll like it."


	9. Yamanouchi

_A/N__: this might be my last update for a few weeks - I have exams in the way until the end of July and a couple of other fics to update, so my spare time will be limited. I hope it won't take me TOO much to get back to this, though.  
As for this chapter, I had a great time writing it, which is probably the reason why it got a lot longer than it should have been. I had been looking forward to get to the part of the story set in Yamanouchi for a while, and I couldn't wait to get Yori back in the picture. I SO wish I could get writing the next chapter right away. Too bad real life has a thing for getting in the way of fun. _:P_  
_

* * *

"A secret ninja school," Monty repeated for the millionth time, still sounding just as incredulous as when he had first said that. Ron had to wonder how could he have enough breath to keep saying it, considering that they had been climbing up the narrow path that led to the peak of Mount Yamanouchi for well past two hours – how could he and Kim manage to walk upright _and_ speak while Ron was panting and close to crawling himself?

"Yeah, that's exactly what Yamanouchi is," Kim replied before stopping yet again to allow Ron to catch his breath.

"But it's impossible! I never heard of a such thing!"

Kim smirked. "First off, impossible? Rule out that word as long as you're sticking with us. Besides, it's no wonder you never heard of it. That's the point of it being a _secret_ school, isn't it?"

"Well, you'll find out what and where it is at some point. Later on. Okay, so _now_ you know about it, but before this I guess it's normal you didn't know of it. Yet. I think," Ron rubbed his temples "man, time travels are a mess."

Monty frowned a little. "Does that mean _he_ knows the location of the school?" he asked, his posture stiffening and his fists clenching. Kim and Ron exchanged a quick look.

"Well, yes. But even if he does think about looking for you here, there's going to be plenty of trained ninjas to make sure he can't even approach the school, let alone you."

"What if he uses the Tempus Simia to get inside the school directly?"

Ron shrugged. "Wade thought about that and asked Sensei when we contacted him. Sensei said he's sure that can't be done because of some… don't know, some mystical mumbo jumbo surrounding the mountain. No chances for Monkey Fist to just appear and drag you into some portal with him. Besides, as soon as we get a chance we'll make sure to make him think we hid you somewhere in some other time: he doesn't know we can't travel in times other than the ones he visited himself. If he falls for it, he'll have so many places and times to go looking for you that he can grow old trying. And we'll always be after him."

Monty breathed a little more easily. "That's good to know," he said, relief clearly showing in his voice before he frowned again.

"What is it?" Kim asked, gesturing for Ron to get moving again.

"Is there anything I should know? Namely, about whatever… happened between these Yamanouchi ninjas and Monkey Fist?" Monty asked a little hesitantly, and it was clear he feared the answer. Not having really given that much thought about the fact the Yamanouchi students could easily place the blame of anything Monkey Fist did on him, Kim bit her lower lip – now that Monty brought it up, it was a valid point. And if he was their enemy before, after Hirotaka's death…

She sighed. "Well, they helped us trying to stop Monkey Fist from getting the Time Monkey, but we still didn't manage to stop him," she said, avoiding any mention of Hirotaka's fate and hoping the Yamanouchi ninjas would spare him that as well; it would only make things worse for him "but they had met before that already. I don't _really_ know the details yet," Kim added, glancing sideways at Ron, who grinned a little sheepishly "but the first time Monkey Fist showed up here, he stole some artefact from them and-"

"Do you mean he managed to sneak inside and _steal_ from them?" Monty asked with a worried frown, holding back a question over what kind of artefact she was referring to.

"Hey, cut them some slack. They weren't expecting it – they'll know better this time," Ron said almost defensively "besides, that time he managed to sneak in because one of the students betrayed them and let him in while he was on patrol. He was kicked out of the school for that, and for helping him kidna… with some other stuff. I really don't think that will happen again."

Monty nodded. "I see," he said, but the news was less than encouraging. He had gathered that those people were not precisely in good terms with Monkey Fist, and the possibility they could take his presence less than well didn't seem exactly unlikely.

"Don't worry too much about it. Sensei is a cool guy, and… uh… well, Sensei is a cool guy. And he wants to help you out," Ron said optimistically, apparently guessing what he was thinking – how oddly perceptive of him, Monty thought with a smirk. His smirk, however, melted in a confused frown as they stopped in front of a dead end – a waterfall. "What is it? Did we get lost?"

Kim shook her head. "No, we're pretty much there. This way," she gestured for Monty to follow before walking past the waterfall. She was once again greeted by the magnificent sight the Yamanouchi school was even from that side of the bridge, surrounded by mist and peaks.

"Monty, meet the Yamanouchi school," Ron said, giving Monty a pat on the back.

No answer.

Kim turned, and she couldn't hold back a laugh as she saw Monty staring at the school with his mouth hanging open, eyes wide. He tried to say something, but nothing intelligible left his mouth.

"Hey, dude, are you okay?" Ron asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes. Monty gave no sign of having even noticed.

"You can close your mouth now, you know," Kim pointed out, still chuckling.

"I… this is… this…" Monty seemed unable to speak for a few moments, then his brain caught up and he suddenly began asking so many questions at once and so quickly that Kim could barely even register what he was saying.

"Is this actually the school you told me about? The _ninja_ school?" he asked excitedly, apparently having forgotten he had already been told so "what kind of martial forms do they teach here? Could I take part to the lessons? How many students are there? What century was the school built? It looks ancient, maybe… sometime between 400 and 300 AD, I daresay? But how was it built? It looks like it's part of the mountain – why choose a location like this? Was it meant to ensure secrecy?" he turned to glance back "but of course, there is no way to see it from the outside! How often have there been contacts with the outside word? If they've been scarce, there is a strong chance for many aspects of tradition the outside world has forgotten to have survived here…! Do you have any idea-?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!" Ron cut him off "we… don't really know that much. Why don't you ask Master Sensei? I'm sure he'll fill you in if you ask," he said. There was something unsettling in how overly excited he was, as if he had completely forgotten everything that was going on in his life now… and it suddenly reminded Ron of how carried away Monkey Fist got when talking of Mystical Monkey Power, how anything else lost its importance in comparison. But at least that was only the academic kind of interest, nothing to do with mad quests for power, so… it was okay, right?

Monty frowned a little, suddenly looking sceptical. "What makes you think he will want to share their secrets with me? They must be extremely secretive over anything," he muttered, his gaze still fixed on the school as they approached.

"Well, they are, and he does shy away from questions and stuff, but… again, he's a cool guy. I bet he'll tell you what he can," Ron said, though Kim couldn't help but wonder if he'd really be that willing to tell much of anything to someone who _was_, after all, the same person as Monkey Fist.

"Are you certain?" Monty seemed both hopeful and doubtful "I'm already surprised that they even agreed to let an outsider stay."

"Hey, it's going to be okay, really. I mean, they let _me_ stay," Ron said "besides, it's better for them if you _don't_ turn out to be Monkey Fist."

Something in what he said caused Monty to suddenly frown. In his enthusiasm upon seeing that place, for a few minutes he had completely forgotten what he had been told about the previous encounters between Monkey Fist and they Yamanouchi ninjas… but now the thought was even more worrying. What if they decided to have Monkey Fist fading from existence by…?

"Stoppable-san, Kim Possible – it is my honour to greet you back in Yamanouchi," a feminine voice snapped him from his thoughts. He glanced ahead to realize that they were reaching the end of the bridge and that a Japanese girl who had to be around his own age clad in a gi was standing in front of the entrance. Her eyes lingered in him for just a moment, and there was no mistaking the scowl that crossed her features for that brief instant before she turned her attention back to Kim and Ron, giving no tangible sign of having even acknowledged his presence, and Monty suddenly got the distinct feeling his stay there might no be pleasant after all.

"Hi, Yori," Ron waved at her "sorry it took us a while, but… well, you _know_ we had to walk."

"And it was our honour," Kim added with a small smirk. It had to be some inside joke Monty didn't get, because the ninja's serious expression softened and melted in a smile for a few moments.

"Sensei has been waiting for you. Do follow me."

It didn't take Monty more than two seconds to realize that no, he most certainly was not as welcomed there as Ron had thought. As they walked in all the students who had been training paused and turned to look at them – more specifically, at _him_ – and they were doing nothing to conceal the scowls on their faces… a detail that made Monty's enthusiasm drop another notch or two, and not even his curiosity about that place and its traditions could help. Ron seemed to busy chatting with Yori to notice it, but Kim reached to grab his forearm.

"They'll calm down once Sensei speaks to them," she said quietly "and… you won't have to stay here for long, I promise. But we needed you to be safe, and this is the only place we could think of."

"It's alright. Just do your best to catch him, I don't think I'll die without a fan club. Just make sure there won't be assassination attempts while I sleep," he tried to smirk a little, and Kim chuckled as well before letting go of his arm.

"Don't worry, they wouldn't," she said as they stopped in front of a door that apparently led to Sensei's dojo. Yori pushed the door open and bowed at them – at Kim and Ron, most likely – in a clear invitation to get in. Monty found himself holding his breath as he stepped into the dojo. It was made of old wood, with some carvings on the walls, and in the middle of the room, surrounded by candles giving the room an eerie dim glow, was sitting an old man. He looked old, so very old, but nothing in him made Monty think of frailness. He smiled as they approached.

"Kim Possible, Stoppable-san, it is my honour to see you here again. Do not leave yet, Yori," he added, glancing past them "close the door and walk closer. I have a duty for you."

As Yori did as instructed, the old man turned his gaze to Monty for the first time. For a moment he just stared at him with a serene expression the young man simply couldn't decipher, then he gave him a nod. "And you must be Montgomery Fiske, of course. It is our honour to have you here."

_Oh, is it? _

Monty had to bite the inside of his cheek to not utter the sarcastic remark; that man was clearly the Sensei after all, and he seemed to mean well as far as he was concerned. Annoying him would be a rather foolish move on his part. "It is, uh… my honour to be here," he said instead.

Sensei chuckled. "You are such a good liar already," he said "but there is no need to lie to me. You have been through so much these days, and you must be wary of everything. Not to mention that, while I'm certain none of the students has dared to disrespect you, I rather doubt any of them showed much… enthusiasm upon seeing you."

"That's a polite way to put it," Monty said dryly, then he winced as Kim stomped on his foot not exactly by accident "I mean… it's understandable, I suppose," he corrected himself, pretending to be unaware of the fact the old man was still chuckling "this is a rather… peculiar situation."

"Understatement of the century, dude," Ron pointed out behind him.

"Why, thank you for pointing that out. I might have _really_ thought I simply found myself in a _slightly_ unusual situation," Monty gave him an annoyed glance. What was he supposed to say anyway?

"That someone could use the Tempus Simia to alter the events... it is something that probably never happened," Sensei spoke up, silencing Ron before he could protest and thus ending the argument before it even began "and if it did happen, we will never know. Time should never be altered, but since this time the normal time stream has been altered already and I can see no way we could undo a such thing… perhaps we can at least hope to make things change for the best. Of course, we can put our best efforts in this, but ultimately, it depends on you," he stared straight in Monty's eyes "it is your life, and how this will turn out is your choice. And even though it would be for the best for many people if things don't turn out the same way once more, it would be deeply unfair of us trying to force your hand. Not to mention we would be unsuccessful, for there are things that cannot be dictated."

Monty scowled. "Don't think even for a _minute_ that I could ever willingly choose to become that kind of man," he said, a little more coldly than it was necessary.

"But you did once, didn't you?" an equally cold voice came from behind him. Monty blinked and turned to see Yori scowling at him – maybe hearing him speaking like that to Sensei had been the last straw. "Who says you wouldn't turn out the same?"

"I _won't_," Monty snapped, clenching his fists tightly. He hated him, hated that twisted version of himself more than he had ever hated anything else, and the mere thought she could even suggest he'd ever _want_ to become Monkey Fist was infuriating and downright hurtful – but he could think of much he could actually say to back up his claim, for he didn't yet know how could he possible come to turn into… into _that_.

"You will forgive me if I have some trouble believing you," she retorted "you're the same person. What would be different this time?"

"Enough, Yori," Sensei spoke up before Monty would retort, some sternness in his voice "I already discussed this with all of you. If he doesn't, it will have been our honour helping him along the way. If he does, indeed, grow up to be Monkey Fist… then he does. We'd have no way to change it. But mistrust is not going to help him in any way."

Yori seemed about to say something, then she just nodded and turned back to him. "My apologies," she said with a bow that didn't seem just a little too stiff "I meant no offence."

"None taken," he said briefly, faintly wondering what could Monkey Fist have ever done to her before turning his attention back to Sensei. "In any case, you have my word – I'd _die_ before turning out that way," he said quietly.

"I certainly hope you won't have to go that far," the old man replied with a serene smile that worried Monty just a little – how could Kim and Ron be that _sure_ they wouldn't go as far as eliminating him to keep Monkey Fist from existing? Of course, Sensei didn't seem inclined to do so, but what about the others? Monty was about to voice his thoughts, but Sensei spoke again. "We'll speak more of this when you won't be as tired as you are now; you went through a long journey to arrive here. We have a room ready for you, where you can rest. We'll let you have a gi by this evening, and tomorrow morning you'll join the lessons."

Monty's gaze brightened just a little, and in his enthusiasm at the thought of getting to train in a _real_ ninja school with _real_ masters he didn't stop to think how other students might make the lessons less than pleasant for him. "May I?"

"But of course. Keeping you secluded is not our intention, and it certainly would serve no purpose. How far are you in your training?"

"Well… I've been training for a couple of years or so, but I'm completely self-learned and… I'm afraid I never actually had an opponent to fight," he admitted.

"Then I'm sure your time here could be most useful to your training," Sensei said encouragingly "and do tell me, what martial art are you practicing?"

Monty gave a wry smile. "Do I even have to tell you?"

Sensei didn't seem surprised. "Tai Shing Pek Kwar, of course," he muttered "may I ask which variation?"

"The Stone Monkey."

"In that case, you might learn some interesting moves and stances that relate to your chosen fighting stile during your stay, if you'll have the patience to start learning from others."

Monty's smile was a little more honest this time. "It would be my honour."

"Very well. Rest assure, you're safe here – and I trust Kim Possible and Stoppable-san to be more than capable to take down Monkey Fist when the time comes. There are many things you might need to know about the school, but I am old and such information tends to slip off my mind," he gave a brief chuckle "Yori will be your guide for during your stay here."

It took Monty a few moments to process what he had just said. "…what?" he asked, his shoulders dropping a little – out of all students in that school, did he _have_ to pick someone who apparently liked him just as much as he liked his older self? Fine, no one in that school was likely to actually _love_ having him around, still…!

Yori seemed to share his thoughts. "_What_?" blurted out, looking almost shocked. Master Sensei couldn't be possibly asking _her_ to look after him! How could she do so while every time she looked at him she saw Monkey Fist's face just beneath the surface – Monkey Fist laughing as he brandished the Lotus Blade, grinning as Fukushima began lowering her and Stoppable-san in the lava of the volcano… and grinning just as much as he probably had when he had killed Hirotaka, breaking his neck with one twist before disrobing him to take his place and fool them all. Not to mention that laughter when he had taunted them before disappearing with the Tempus Simia, that insane, horrible _laughter_…!

"Yori…" Sensei began a little patronizingly, but Yori spoke up, interrupting him for the first time.

"Master Sensei, I… I ask you to reconsider," she said, bowing her head "there must be other students who-"

"Enough, Yori," the old man sounded a little sterner now "I'm asking you to do this because I'm well aware of how tense the situation is, and I know that you are far less inclined than many other students are to give in to your anger. As much as it pains me to say so, Monkey Fist may not be the only one he will need protection for. It his my hope none of the students will dishonour all of us like this, but we are to be his guardians now and his safety is our priority, and we can take no risks."

Yori stayed silent for a moment, then she bowed again. "My apologies, Sensei. I didn't mean to disrespect you," she said, then she turned to Monty. "It will be my honour to be your guide."

"Yes, I can just see how honoured you feel," he said dryly, with the result of having Ron elbowing his side lightly.

"Hey, don't take it so badly, okay?" he said, his voice low "she's had… a lot of trouble with this whole thing lately. Don't make it harder for her."

A lot of trouble? Her? But of course, _he_ was the one who had been dragged in another time to find out that he would grow up to become an insane monkey man and murderer, _he_ was the one who now found himself stuck in a school filled with trained ninjas that apparently hated him as much as they hated his older self – how could he _not_ be sensitive enough to realize that _she_, a person who clearly despised him just as much or maybe even more then the others did, was having a hard time?

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything," he muttered, not really caring if anyone else heard him.

"It is settled, then," Sensei gave a nod and rose, glancing at Kim and Ron "would you like to stay with us for a while? It would be a honour to us."

Kim shook her head. "No, thanks. We'd like to, but in case some mission comes up or Monkey Fist shows up again we've got to be in a place we can get a quick lift from, and you sure don't want jets or helicopters too close to the school. And if this 'no openings in time and space continuum' rule counts for technology, too, we won't be able to even follow him back and forth in time from here."

"You do have a point. Very well, then – allow me to walk you to the bridge," he said "Yori, do show our guest his room and tell everything he needs to know about classes."

"Yes, master Sensei."

Ron walked up to Monty and patted his shoulder. "Good luck with these guys. Try not eating too much rice and let us know how it's going," he said, pressing something against Monty's hand, and it took Monty a moment to realize that it was a device very similar to the one Kim used to speak with that friend of theirs – Wayne? Wade? He didn't remember. Even though he had no idea how he would make that thing work, he still took it and smiled back at Ron.

"I'll be fine, no need to worry. But thanks."

"See you soon," Kim said with a brief nod before both her and Ron followed Sensei to the door and left the dojo. Monty sighed before turning to Yori.

"Aren't you supposed to be showing me my room?" he asked coldly.

"Yes," she replied just as coldly, gesturing for him to follow her "this way."

There were a few moments of silence as they made their way outside the dojo, into another building and then through corridors that looked everything like old painting he had seen of ancient Japanese buildings meant to train warriors. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're not at all fond on me," Monty finally spoke up, more to break the unnerving silence than because he really had any intention to speak to her of anything.

"That shouldn't surprise you after what you did to this school and its students," she said stiffly.

"I rest my case," he said dryly "but in case you didn't notice, I never set foot in this school before. Not _me_. I refuse to refer of myself as the same person as Monkey Fist, and I'm not going to accept any blame for what he did," Monty pointed out, his scowl deepening. If he had to stay there, it would be for the best if they began to get _that_ through their skulls.

"You could find yourself unable to simply shake off any blame if you knew what you did."

"What _Monkey Fist_ did. In any case, what Bates told me was enough. I don't really look forward to know anything more," he said a little bitterly, trying to chase the thought of Bates out of his mind "but I will never take the blame for anything he did."

"You're delusional if you really think you can view him and yourself as two separate people," Yori muttered through gritted teeth.

"_Stoppable-san_ doesn't seem to agree," he retorted, and he allowed himself to smirk at the sudden stiffness of her shoulders – one point for him, apparently "he's the one who told me not to think of him and myself as one and the same."

There was a moment of silence before Yori spoke again. "Stoppable-san is a noble soul. He wants to see the best in everybody even when there is no good to be found."

Monty's smirk turned into a frown, the short-lived triumph souring. "If that is what you and the others think, may I inquire why did you decide to keep me here rather than letting Monkey Fist find me, then? If you think I'm bound to turn out that way, what difference does it make-" he trailed off as Yori abruptly stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Master Sensei certainly has his own reasons to keep you here, and he doesn't have to share them with us. We trust him. He told me to look after you, and I will. Closely," she added, her eyes narrowing a little "it shouldn't be a problem to you if I keep an eye on you since you're not up to anything, isn't that right?"

Monty stared at her for a few moments, taken aback, then he snorted. "Not at all," he said icily "now, would you mind doing what your precious Sensei asked you to do and just show me my room? Verbal communication shall not be needed."

"As you wish," Yori said, ignoring his last remark before she turned to her left and pulled a door open "this is your room. It's isolated from the others to avoid any risk for the other students – or for _you_."

"Afraid someone might decide to make me pay for something I haven't even done?"

"It's unlikely, but a possibility. I can't honestly say it's something you wouldn't deserve it."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you would like to see that happen," he said sarcastically.

Yori gave no real reply to that. "Sensei said you should be kept safe, and you will. The closest room to yours is mine. You have to step in front of it any time you get out, and I can grant you that I _will_ hear you if you try to sneak out at night."

Monty faintly wondered just how paranoid she could get. "What makes you think I'd have any need to sneak outside at night?"

"There are priceless item in this school – items that it is our honour to guard. It wouldn't be the first time you tried to steal from Yamanouchi's grounds."

"I never stole anything from this blasted place!" Monty finally snapped. There was a limit to his patience, and she had just crossed it. Couldn't she get it through her brain that he hadn't done _anything_ to her or her precious school? "I _refuse_ to take blame-"

"If not you, then _who_ do you think is to blame?" she asked sharply.

He narrowed his eyes. "Monkey Fist is."

"That is exactly the point. And you _are_ Monkey Fist," she said icily "nothing you say if going to change that."

Monty gritted his teeth, but he chose not to repeat how he refused to accept being blamed for Monkey Fist's actions; it was clear she wouldn't accept that argument. "Nothing I say, maybe. How about what I _do_?" he asked "that could change a lot. That could change _everything_."

She seemed to consider his words for a few moments before replying. "In that case it will be your actions to do the speaking for you," was all she said before nodding toward his room "I'll bring you your dinner later; for today it's better for you to dine here while Sensei speaks to the other students. Lessons will start at four in the morning," she added before turning her back to him and walking away, leaving him alone in front of the open door.

Monty stared at her retreating back for a few moments, anger burning in his chest, but he could think of nothing he could retort and last thing he felt like doing was starting a shouting contest. Besides, he was tired. He sighed and walked in the small room, sliding the door shut behind himself before sitting cross-legged on the mattress, wondering if that was the kind of attitude everyone in that place was going to have toward him – at least Kim and Ron had been friendly.

He scowled and shook his head as if to chase away the thought. Why should he care what those people thought of him? He wasn't going to be there for long, only enough time for Kim and Ron to take the Tempus Simia from Monkey Fist – after that he would be back in his own time, and he'd take his life back… making sure Monkey Fist would never come to be. No, what the students of a secret ninja school would think of him was none of his concern.

What _did_ concern him, on the other hand, was the lesson he was supposed to attend to with them in the morning.

* * *

The ungodly hour the gong woke him up the next morning would have been less of an issue had he been able to sleep at least a couple of hours that night – instead he hadn't been able to sleep more than a few minutes, and even then he had been more snoozing than actually sleeping: the rest of the night had been spent lying on his back and staring at the blackness above him, his ears straining to catch the slightest sound, only focused in the attempt to stop thinking. He feared that if he allowed himself to do so, his own thought would have made sleep an even more impossible achievement.

So when it was time for him to wear the gi Yori had silently brought him along with his dinner the previous evening – he was relieved it fit him, since he wouldn't have put above her giving him a poor fit on purpose – and headed to the yard where the lesson would take place, he felt even more pessimistic than he probably should have been. Sure, he was still thrilled by a certain degree by the chance of taking part to actual lessons of martial arts with real teachers and people to train with, but the sensation he wasn't up for a pleasant experience was stronger than it had been even the previous evening and it made his insides clench.

He wasn't wrong about that: the first thing he noticed as he took his place among them, right beside a rather icy Yori, was the fact most of the other students were turned to look at him – and none of them looked friendly in the slightest. They all looked rather hostile, really, and even the few who seemed to be mildly curious were staring at him with their fists clenched.

Oh joy.

"I suppose you are Montgomery Fiske," a voice snapped him from his thought, and he glanced ahead – like everyone else – to see a woman he supposed was the teacher staring at him with narrowed eyes. She didn't look any friendlier than the students, and his insides seemed to knot even tighter. If even the teachers were out to get him, he was in a worse situation then he had thought.

Monty briefly glanced at his right to see that Yori was staring ahead with a stony expression on her face – so, no help would come from her part. Oh well, not that he had expected it. No matter, though: he could handle that. He could handle all of them. He drew in a deep breath and clenched his jaw, determinated not to let them intimidate. "Yes. It is my honour to meet you, I suppose."

"The honour is all yours," she said stiffly, and Monty had to grit his teeth not to snap – he knew better than doing so. He faintly wondered if there could be anything Monkey Fist had done against that school other than what he had been told: there had to be something past some stealing and a kidnapping to fuel that much hatred. He was suddenly reminded of something Kim had mentioned in his presence – something about a Yamanouchi ninja having died while they struggled to stop Monkey Fist from acquiring the Tempus Simia. The thought made him feel as though he had swallowed ice: if they viewed that death as Monkey Fist's doing and they did consider him one and the same as their enemy, then it was no wonder they hated his guts.

He didn't like the direction that was taking. It didn't like it at all.

"This is your first lesson in this school, isn't it?" the teacher was speaking to him again "and tell me, in which school have you studied up to this point?"

"I attended no school of martial arts, if that's what you mean. I'm completely self-learned," Monty replied, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible in hopes to hide both the worry gnawing at him and the anger boiling in his chest at the thought he was being held responsible for something he had never done, treated like a criminal because of that mockery of a man Monkey Fist was.

"I see. And I trust it's not ninjutsu you trained yourself into, is it?" she asked coldly, but it was no real question. Everyone there had to be aware of what his – Monkey Fist's – chosen martial art was.

"No. I trained myself in Tai Shing Pek Kwar for the past two years," he said through gritted teeth, trying to keep his gaze focused on the teacher's face and to ignore the slight snorts and murmurs coming from the students – were they usually that noisy and disrespectful of other learners? Monty doubted so, as he doubted the teacher would have let it pass had anyone else been in his shoes. He had to make an effort to keep the scowl off his face, his anger turning into something close to hatred against everyone surrounding him.

Perhaps hiding there hadn't been such a good idea.

"In that case, I think it would be fit seeing what kind of fighting stile you have and how far in your training you are," the teacher went on, snapping him from his furious thoughts "and the best way is seeing you fighting. Step forward – you too, Toshio."

Monty tried to ignore the fact he felt as though his insides had twisted once more and did as he had been told, glancing at Yori just for a moment: she was still staring ahead with a stony expression on her face. Still no hope to see any help coming from her. Just wonderful.

_It doesn't matter, I don't need her help. I don't need anyone's help. I'll show them I'm not so easy to-_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he saw his opponent walking up to him. He had to be about his age, and from the fluid grace of his movements it wasn't hard to tell he had to be much more experienced than he was; no wonder, since everyone in there had been training every day for years with proper masters while he had simply been teaching himself the moves and stances for the past couple of years in his spare time. He was in clear disadvantage, and he was going to have to do his best.

Still, what worried him the most was the expression on his opponent's face: not only it showed contempt, but its owner was doing nothing to conceal it. It was clear he wasn't going to go easy at all on him, and still he had been picked by the teacher to fight him – and not only that, but the one who was supposed to look after him had said nothing about it. Monty was starting to fear he wouldn't make it through that day's lessons unscathed.

_So be it. But I won't go down without a fight._

No, he wouldn't. Never. Monty clenched his jaw as he exchanged the custom bow with his opponent before they both took a fighting stance and circled each other for a few moments, looking for an opening and trying to determinate the other's weak points. Monty noticed that the student leant a lot on his left side, and perhaps if he acted quickly he could make him take an unbalanced stance and-

A second later there was no time to think any further, for Toshio swiftly attacked and Monty found himself having to use all his concentration to block his blows, or to dodge them. After a few moments' confusion he finally regained some control and began to counter attack. He sidestepped a blow and grabbed his opponent's arm to fling him over his shoulder and on the ground, but he immediately bounced back on his feet and used the momentum to attack him once more.

Monty managed to mostly block his blows, but didn't try to return any – for now he simply had to stay on the defence and try to determinate a pattern in his opponent's fighting style. Besides, if he let him think he was in complete advantage there would be a chance for him to grow careless.

Finally, Monty saw Toshio taking a step back with his left foot, his right fist pulling low before springing up in what would have been a vicious blow to his stomach. Monty and immediately stepped on his left to avoid the blow – still, the peculiar way his opponent had shifted his weight by bringing back his left foot and the fact he had just used his right hand while until that moment everything seemed to suggest he was left-handed had let him know he had to be planning something more than just one strike. And he wasn't wrong: the moment he dodged the first blow Toshio swung his left arm in a wide arc that would have hit the side of his head hadn't Monty smelled the trap and dropped in a crouch.

Unable to stop, his opponent was draggen in a half-turn by the momentum, and Monty sprang on his feet. His left arm latched itself around Toshio's neck, his other hand grabbing his own forearm to hold him in a chokehold, and he was about to turn so that he could use his own body as a fulcrum to throw his opponent backwards and off balance, but Toshio was quicker: he didn't try to break free from the chokehold and grabbed Monty's arm, then he bent forward instead, so sharply and suddenly that Monty was thrown over his back and on the ground before he even had time to realize what was going on.

He ignored the pain on his shoulder and he rolled back on his feet in an instant, but Toshio was on him again and his blows were much quicker and more vicious, and with his shoulder hurting Monty found himself suddenly unable to use his right arm as well as he would have liked, and he knew that it he was fighting a lost battle, that he was going to hurt as hell if he didn't find a way to somehow make it end quickly – but the only way to do so was surrendering, and he wouldn't do that. Never. They could have the satisfaction of beating him, but never that of seeing him begging for mercy.

He just hoped there was an infirmary in that place.

* * *

To his luck it turned out that there was, indeed, a well-furnished infirmary in that school. While the woman he had found there when he had limped inside had offered to tend his bruises as it was her duty to do, Monty had declined her offer: the look on her face was more than enough to tell him she would consider it a very unpleasant task at most, and he wasn't looking forward to put himself in the tender care of any Yamanouchi ninja anytime soon.

So there he was, sitting in the middle of the infirmary and struggling to get some salve on his bruises, some of which where in places that were rather hard to reach. Monty had to grit his teeth to ignore the pain on his side when he twisted in the attempt to put some salve on the back of his shoulder. He could feel exactly where the bruise was, and it was just out of reach. Someone was going to pay for that, he thought with a scowl, anger and humiliation mixing into what felt like a burning fire consuming his insides. As soon as he could fight back decently enough, he would get them back. Someone would _pay_. He would-

"Do you wish some help?"

Monty turned to see Sensei standing in the doorway, looking at him with a serene expression on his face. It was the friendliest face he had seen since the previous day, but he felt still too angry and humiliated to really take notice of that. "No. I'm doing fine," he said coldly, still twisting in the attempt to reach the sore spot.

"Are you? To me it looks like you're not able to reach some of the bruises on your back, and they look bothersome. Let me help you," he said, walking inside and sitting beside him. Monty was about to protest, then it occurred to him that angering Sensei while he had every other human being in that blasted place against him already wouldn't be wise, nor useful.

"You might want to reconsider. I'm not good luck to those who try to help me lately," he said dryly, but he let him take the salve from his hand.

Sensei didn't seem to mind his coldness. "I suppose you have someone in particular in mind to make that remark," he said quietly, smearing some salve on the bruise behind Monty's left shoulder. The tenseness in Monty's back diminished as he realized the old man wouldn't try to make it sting like most others in there probably would have. "But Stoppable-san and Kim Possible were perfectly fine, and they did help you. They still are helping you."

"Having one's living room destroyed by the Stone Guardian of Satsuma seems unlucky enough to me," was Monty's reply "besides, there was… someone else who paid a high price for helping me," he added, and his voice wavered just a little as he thought back of the trusting gaze Bates had given him when they had shaken hands only a few days earlier, when he had promised him he wouldn't let Monkey Fist come to be – had that monster at least shown some mercy by giving him a quick death? God, he prayed he had.

"I don't suppose you'd want to talk about it?"

Monty shook his head. "There is nothing to talk about. He helped me, or tried to, and Monkey Fist decided he should pay with his life. I have nothing else to add."

_Tried to. _That was the part Monty felt the worst about: by asking Bates for help he had sentenced him to death, and it had been an useless death. Had he been able to give him any clue of how Monkey Fist could come to be he could have least thought there had been a meaning to it – but nothing of what Bates had told him had served for him to understand what had happened in his mind for _him_ to happen.

Monkey Fist had murdered him, but _he_ had been the one who had sentenced him to death – and all for nothing. He had promised Bates he wouldn't disappoint him after having signed his death sentence already.

"That's hardly your fault," Sensei was pointing out, putting some salve on another bruise on his upper back – the students certainly hadn't gone easy on him, nor the old man had expected them to. He was going to have to speak to the teachers at least, though: while he was himself of the idea learning something about humility would do that boy some good, harming him that much was pointless and unnecessary. "If he chose to help you, it must have been because he believed it was the right thing to do – and because he believed in you in the first place. It honours him."

"It was an useless death."

"If you succeed in stopping Monkey Fist from coming to be, if his death made him more determinated in doing so, it won't have been useless. Actually, if you succeed his death will have never happened," Sensei said encouragingly "nothing is lost yet. Not even the lives Monkey Fist claimed."

Monty nodded, but he was too distracted by the thought of Bates' end to even notice Sensei had spoken of more than one life Monkey Fist had claimed. "You ninjas don't seem to think too highly of me. What makes _you_ think I'll succeed in the first place? You don't even know what happened for Monkey Fist to… to even _exist_. I don't know it either. I have no idea what happened."

"My ninjas only knew Monkey Fist, like myself; wisdom comes with experience, and many of them have very little of it – I cannot blame them for not being inclined to trust you, and I'm sorry this is making things harder for you. But on the other hand, the man you speak of knew both Monkey Fist and you. And if he believed you put an end to this, I see no reason why his judgement shouldn't be trusted," he paused at the questioning look Monty gave him over his shoulder "Stoppable-san told me about what happened, and who that man was. My condolences."

Monty just turned away. "I'm fine. I'll put a remedy to what happened."

A brief silence followed. "I was observing you during the lessons," Sensei finally spoke again.

"Did you?" Monty asked in a disinterested tone, unable to even bring himself caring about the fact he had to look incredibly stupid to him, a weakling who could not defeat any of the students.

"Yes. Sometimes you learn to know more of a person by observing them while put on a test than by speaking to them for years. And what I saw is both worrying and promising."

That made Monty scowl in annoyance – not only he had been through one of his worst days yet, but he had also been observed like a guinea pig put through some kind of _test_. Of course he had expected he would be carefully observed, but… it was still bothersome, and somewhat humiliating. "And the verdict is…?" he asked dryly.

Sensei chuckled. "There is no verdict to be given, my boy – you're here to be kept safe, not to be judged."

"Isn't it exactly what you're doing? Why _observe_ me otherwise?" Monty asked with a frown.

The old man didn't seem to mind his attitude. "I don't think I can be blamed for trying to imagine what the most likely outcome of this situation could be," he said quietly "and as I said, I saw a lot of things in you. Traits that worried me, and others that gave me hope."

"Oh, really? And may I inquire what kind of traits are you referring to?" Monty asked, but underneath the annoyance there was a pang of eagerness mixed with fear – he was ready to cling to anything that could possibly resemble an _explanation_ for the terrible change he had gone through at some point in his life, but at the same time he feared any answer he might get.

Sensei put the salve aside and gestured for him to turn to face him fully. "First of all, while less exasperated, I saw exactly the same flaws in your character I saw in Monkey Fist; the flaws that I'm inclined to believe are mostly to blame for your _–_ _his_ – downfall."

Monty gritted his teeth. "You're wrong," he said "I have nothing in common with him!"

"Nothing in common, you say?" Sensei raised an eyebrow "but you and him are the same individual. You have every right to refuse to take blame for anything you haven't yet done, but the fact you're two sides of the very same coin is not a notion you can simply ignore. No, let me speak," he went on, lifting a hand before Monty could interrupt him "you share many traits with him, and there's no denying that. You're too arrogant for your own good, too easy to anger. You won't listen to advice, and you let your pride blind you: you're too focused on yourself and your goals to reach out for other people and see beyond their words and actions. Even now you're probably thinking I'm just an old man speaking nonsense, aren't you?"

"That's all you are," Monty snapped at him, forgetting all caution "why are you here speaking nonsense to me while it's your own ninjas you should be reprimanding? The way they _treated_ me! You were there, you saw it! Those idiots! If only I were better at martial arts, I'd-"

"Make them pay? Is that what you'd do?" Sensei finished before chuckling "vengeful, aren't we? But of course. As I said, you're proud, easy too anger, unable to give heed to any advice if you don't like what you're hearing. Didn't you prove my point just now?" he asked with a hint of amusement, and Monty shut his mouth with a scowl. He turned away from sense with a huff, but he didn't retort and simply kept quiet.

"If there isn't anything else you'd like to tell me, I'll be in my room," he said coldly, getting up and putting the upper part of his gi back on "considering how lovely everyone has been to me up to this point, I'd appreciate it if I could dine in there this evening as well. Do tell my charming guardian not to bother getting inside: she can as well leave the bowl in front of the door, knock and get lost so that we're both spared the annoyance of seeing each other more than it's strictly necessary."

Sensei shook his head, standing up as well. "Actually, there is something more."

Monty stopped at the door to glance at him over his shoulder. "And what is it?"

"I believe I already mentioned seeing something in you that gave me hope that the current situation will turn out for the best," the old man said calmly.

Oh, right. Monty had completely forgotten about it. "You just finished letting me know I'm everything like Monkey Fist. May I inquire I could there possibly be anything you deemed as positive in me then?"

"Oh, but there is something. More than you might think," Sensei said gently "you're determinated, skilled, and hard-working. You'll do anything you can at the best of your abilities to achieve what you want. These are even more traits you share with Monkey Fist, yes – but they can be used for good just as much as they can be used for evil. You are determinated to make sure Monkey Fist will never come to be, aren't you?"

Monty clenched his jaw. "That much should be obvious by now, shouldn't it?"

"Yes. And that is exactly why I'm willing to believe you could turn out so much better, and achieve so much more than Monkey Fist ever could by becoming the great man you have the potential to be. But that won't happen unless you abandon your anger and take a good, hard look at yourself," Sensei said before stepping past him and in the hallway. "I'll let Yori know you'd rather dine in your room every evening from now on. Also, I think it will be wise having her being your only partner in training for the rest of your stay," he added a moment before disappearing around a corner.

Monty was taken aback, but he didn't call after him for explanations, nor he tried to go after him to point out that Yori individual hadn't exactly done much to help him out and that he wouldn't expect her to do it anytime soon: he just stared at the corner around which Sensei had disappeared for a long while, saying nothing.


	10. Fukushima

_A/N: I know this update took quite a while. I'm sorry about it, but my focus was split among several fics, and then there was real life with all that comes with it. Getting back to this was a lot of fun, though. Hopefully, updates won't take this long again._

* * *

Monty hadn't been there when Sensei had actually told Yori she was to become his partner in training for the rest of his stay. Not that he had missed much of anything, for he could easily imagine how things went: as soon as Sensei was done speaking, Yori had certainly bowed and uttered the fakest 'it will be my honour' ever uttered in _history_. Still, he thought, he was pretty sure she was going to obey the order: she clearly respected Sensei far too much not to.

What he wasn't sure, however, was whether that would be good news for him or not.

"You're too eager to strike back," Yori said flatly after turning his attack against him once again.

Monty snorted as he dropped back in a fighting stance. "Am I?"

"Yes. You take stance too soon before attacking, but it doesn't make your attack any quicker. It simply tells your adversary what your next move is. How do you think I could anticipate every and each of your attacks?" Yori asked, her voice still flat. She was clearly trying her hardest not to let her contempt against him show, but she wasn't having much success. If anything, Monty thought, she wasn't trying to maim him for life – and was that actually some _advice_ that had left her mouth?

For a moment he was tempted to tell her that he didn't need her advice, especially since for all he knew she could be giving him the wrong suggestions so that he'd be easier to defeat – but then it occurred to him that it was true, she _had_ managed to anticipate pretty much all his moves throughout the training… which could mean that maybe he really made the mistake to give his moves away before actually using them. The thought he could have been making such a blatant mistake hadn't even crossed his mind; no wonder, considering that he had never been fond on admitting he could be wrong over something.

"Very well," he finally said "I suppose I'll keep it in mind."

"If you want to truly learn something, you should," she pointed out, her voice still flat. She was about to add something else, but then they heard the sound of a gong, and she dropped her stance. "I suppose it's enough for this morning. We should head back to eat."

Monty snorted. "What's the point? I already know I won't get any food until evening," he muttered irritably. In that place even having lunch was troublesome. The previous day he had tried more than once to snatch something to eat from the tray some… ninja lunch lady was holding, but she was too quick and he had eventually had to give up and walk away with all the dignity he could muster, pretending not to have heard the chuckles behind him. Of course, he told himself, she had been quicker with him than she had been with the Yamanouchi students, all to get him back for… for _something_ he had never even done. Had she moved the tray at the same speed he had used for the others, he _knew_ he would have managed…!

"You can't know unless you try, don't you think?" was Yori's reply as she walked to the centre of the yard, and he finally followed her, still scowling. Still, he went to sit in a corner without even approaching the tray; if they thought he was about to give them one more reason to ridicule him, they were very much mistaking. He could do without food until evening after all, Monty told himself. His stomach grumbled as if in protest, but he ignored it and turned away so that he wouldn't have to see those imbeciles chewing on their rice. If they thought they could make him-!

"You're once again letting your pride rule your actions," a calm, collected voice spoke from behind him. Monty turned to see Sensei standing beside him, handing something to him – a bowl of rice. It took Monty some effort of will not to stare at it – who was he trying to fool? He was starving – and to force himself to just look at Sensei instead.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm simply not hungry," he lied.

Sensei chuckled. "Fine then, let's say you're not hungry. But your body still needs some nourishment if you want to be able to keep training until evening. I trust Yori isn't letting you slack off."

Monty frowned. "She sure isn't," he muttered, but he finally reached to take the bowl and brought some rice to his mouth. It was nothing special, just cold rice, but it tasted better than any other meal he could recall having. Hunger could certainly work miracles, he thought as he tried to keep eating normally, possibly without stuffing his face as he had seen Ron doing in Bueno… something.

Seemingly unbothered by the fact Monty hadn't even thanked him, the old man sat next to him. Monty expected him to say something, but he didn't: he just stayed silent, as if waiting for him to speak first. Monty tried to focus on his lunch at first, but the silence soon unnerved him. "Is anything she isn't using training as an excuse to spill my blood," he finally muttered "though she certainly isn't glad to have me around."

Sensei nodded. "She certainly isn't. As you might have imagined, she has a grudge against Monkey Fist."

"You don't say," Monty said sarcastically.

"She had few encounters with him," Sensei went on, as though Monty hadn't spoken "but each was a bad experience. The last one especially wounded her deeply," he paused "you could say it wounded all of us. Perhaps you should try to understand, and reach out for her. For the others."

Monty had the unpleasant sensation someone had just twisted his insides in a knot. He didn't know much of anything of what had exactly happened during that encounter – only that Monkey Fist had managed to steal the Tempus Simia… and that one of the Yamanouchi ninjas had died in the attempt to stop him. Kim had said it had been an accident, but now that he knew Monkey Fist was more than capable to kill, and had killed at least once… then could it be that…?

The thought made him clench his jaw. Had Monkey Fist truly killed one of them, the hatred the Yamanouchi ninjas seemed to hold against him would have a more logic explanation. For a moment he wanted to ask, but in the end he just shut his mouth without speaking: he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. He put down the half-empty bowl. "Whatever Monkey Fist did to her or to the other students here is none of my concern," he finally scoffed. Considering how they had treated him, why should _he_ be the first to reach out?

Sensei shook his head. "I'm afraid it _is_ of your concern. Not your responsibility, perhaps, but you can't behave like it has nothing to do with you. It has _everything_ to do with you," the old man added before getting up from his sitting position "but enough of this chat. I think it's time for you to resume your training," he said, and Monty followed his gaze to see Yori walking up to them with a blank expression on her face.

Monty was started to loathe that particular expression: it was almost better when her face would twist in distaste upon seeing him, when she'd openly accuse him. If anything he could retort to that, snap at her and tell her that she had no reason, no _right_ to despise him as she did. Now he had no real excuse to snap at her, no way to start an argument that could somewhat prove, to her and _himself_, that he was not to blame. Mostly to himself, maybe: it was clear that to her, to everyone in there, he was guilty without appeal.

It stung more than it probably should have.

* * *

Try to reach out for her, Sensei had said. The old man made it sound so easy: it wasn't to him that she was a wall of ice, Monty thought with a grimace as he and Yori kept walking in silence on the path surrounding the school's wall. The patrol duty – he wondered, not for the first time, what made them think sending him in night patrol duty along with her was an even vaguely good idea: wasn't he supposed to stay _in_ to be protected? – certainly wasn't pleasant, even less when your companion is pretending you're not there. That annoyed him even more than her accusations: being ignored was something he couldn't stand.

"Why so quiet? No insults left to throw?" he asked after a while to break the unnerving silence.

Yori stiffened, but she kept walking without looking at him. "We're not suppose to speak while on patrol."

"Because of course you have the habit of talking my ears off in any other moment," he said sarcastically "you have quite a lot of animosity against someone you only met a few days ago," he added, fully knowing he was getting himself in a dangerous territory – but he wanted her to snap, wanted her to resume throwing her accusations at him: to _that_ he could respond, defend himself. Something you can't do with someone who simply speaks to you as little as possible and pretends you're not there most of the time.

Yori scowled. "We have met, one year ago for the first time. On this very mountain, when you kidnapped me and then tried to dip me and Stoppable-san in the crater of a volcano," was the dry reply.

"I never did anything like that," he retorted through gritted teeth "if you expect me to apologize you're very much mistaking, especially for something I never did!"

Her eyes narrowed. "It's something you _will_ do."

"Never!" he snapped "you don't even _know_-" he trailed off as Yori abruptly stopped walking and turned to face him, her eyes ablaze. Well, it looked like he had managed to get that indifferent façade off her. The problem now was that he wasn't that sure it had been a good idea in the first place.

"I know you better than I'd like to," she hissed "I know what kind of person you'll turn into. And you'll do even worse as time passes – first the Lotus Blade, then the Tempus Simia, and Hirotaka, and-" he trailed off as though she had said too much, and Monty seized his chance to finally get some more answers from her, even though he knew he probably wouldn't like them.

"Hirotaka?" he repeated "who's that? I haven't met anyone by that name in the school."

She clenched her jaw for a moment. "Of course you didn't meet him – he's not here," she finally said "he's not among us anymore. And do you know why?" Yori's steely gaze made him shift uncomfortably as he hoped he had _not_ just guessed the answer. Fat chance. "Because he's dead," Yori finished, her voice growing weaker "he's dead because of you. He was between Monkey Fist and his goals – between you and the Tempus Simia– and he lost his life for that."

It was the reply Monty had feared, but also half-expected. For a moment he felt as though he had swallowed ice and he thought of Bates, of how horribly calm Monkey Fist was when he let him know what he had done to him, but he chased away the sensation. Bates had trusted him enough to think he could set things right again. He had risked and lost his life for that hope, and he wasn't going to disappoint. "Because of Monkey Fist," he retorted "not me."

"There is no difference."

"There is, and you know it," Monty snapped at her "say, weren't _you_ the one leading that mission?"

Yori stiffened once more. "What are you trying to say?"

"That you're blaming _me_ because you can't stand it that you couldn't protect him," he said with vicious satisfaction – it was about time she knew what it meant being blamed for a death he hadn't caused! "You couldn't get your hands on the one who actually killed him and you don't want to admit it was your fault, so you just think you can blame me and-" he trailed off as Yori took a step forward so that now they were eye to eye, her eyes narrowed. He had clearly hit a nerve.

"You won't speak of Hirotaka ever again," she hissed "have I made myself clear?"

Monty glared back. "Only if you never mention Monkey Fist again. And leave me alone. _Now_."

There were a few moments of silence as they stared at each other, and Monty could see her anger flaring up in her eyes. Still, she said nothing more, she just pulled back and resumed walking, her steps quick, and the message couldn't be clearer – don't approach again.

Well, it wasn't like he looked forward to have her company again. So he was more than glad to let her walk ahead, so far ahead that now he couldn't even see her in the darkness: he didn't feel in danger – how could he, knowing that there were ninjas guarding every path leading up the mountain? – and the night certainly wouldn't seem as long without having to walk beside her, confronted with her mute disdain and-

His train of thoughts was abruptly interrupted by something that he later wouldn't be sure how to define, perhaps as the undefined sensation of danger approaching animals sometimes feel – but whatever it was, it saved his life. The moon was full that night, and the very same instant he lifted his gaze from the ground, his muscles suddenly tense and the hair on his neck standing on end, he could see the shadow of someone leaping on him cast against the wall.

Monty acted out on instinct, without thinking, without even turning to see who his attacker was: he just leapt forward and rolled across the ground, the blow that would have broken his neck narrowly missing its target; but it did hit his shoulder blade, hard, causing him to let out a pained gasp as he performed a shoulder roll and got back on his feet to take a defensive stance, trying to ignore the pain.

There wasn't that much light, but it was enough to see who his attacker was, and it was no one he had expected, because the young man standing in front of him with a furious grimace on his face he was no one he _knew_ – and certainly not Monkey Fist. For a moment Monty thought he was one of the Yamanouchi ninjas, if anything because he was clearly Japanese and couldn't he much older than he was himself, but something didn't add up: he couldn't remember seeing his face and the gi he was wearing looked old and ripped in some points, as if-

His attacker gave a cry of rage and attacked him once more, and there was no more time to think: Monty managed to dodge one of this blows and to block another, but a powerful kick in his stomach sent him tumbling on the ground, and his attempt at twisting in mid-air only resulted with him painfully landing on his face. There was a sharp pain and he could feel blood dripping from the cuts on his face and his upper lip had split, but Monty barely acknowledged that. He rolled on his back to leap on his feet, but the ninja – yes, he had to be a ninja, he fought like one – was on him before he could, hands gripping at his throat.

"Die," he snarled, struggling to adjust his grip on Monty's neck so that he could snap the neck bone, and it was only then that Monty truly realized he wasn't just going to try to cause him a bruise or two – he was out to _kill_ him and no one was coming to help him, Yori wasn't coming, and maybe she wouldn't because she wanted him dead as well so that Monkey Fist could never exist. Maybe the whole patrol ordeal was nothing but a trap he had walked straight into, and if that was the case he had no chance to make it out of it alive.

The thought filled him with fear and despair and anger, which blew away any confusion and left him furious, more lucid and focused than he could remember being – if he were to die there, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Just as the ninja managed to grip his throat tightly enough, Monty brought up his knees until they almost touched his chest and braced his heels against his attacker's stomach to violently throw him off himself. The young man hit the ground with a muttered curse, and Monty was on his feet before he could recover. The fury that pervaded him was only equalled by the vicious satisfaction as he delivered to his adversary a vicious high kick that hit him straight on his face, knocking him back once more. His cry barely covered the cracking sound his nose made breaking, and Monty almost laughed in delight for a moment at the sensation of finally being in control again, of being able to _hurt_ after being kicked around so many times by those blasted ninjas.

"Did you think I would go down so easily?" he spat as his attacker made it back on his feet, holding his bleeding nose and staring at him with murderous eyes "I don't know who you are, but I'd suggest-"

"You don't know who I am?" his opponent roared, and Monty trailed off, taken aback by the pure anger and venom and hurt in his voice "you ruined my life! Ruined _me_! Took my honour, _everything_ from me, and you _dare_ to ignore who I am?"

All of Monty's anger seemed to vanish for an instant, and he found himself lowering his guard despite himself. Monkey Fist, he thought, what could Monkey Fist have possibly done to him to make him want to _kill_ him? How many lives had he destroyed? "I…" he began, not even knowing what he'd say next, but he didn't get a chance to add anything more, for the young man leapt on him once more with a cry of rage.

Monty immediately shifted his weight and braced himself to fight back, but it wasn't him to meet his attack: it was someone else, a shadow among shadows that seemingly appeared from nowhere to send the stranger tumbling on the ground before he could even touch Monty again – Yori. She stood between them in a fighting stance, her eyes fixed on the attacker, and despite the relief Monty snapped at her.

"It was about time you showed up," he snapped, and she seemed to stiffen a little at the remark. Still, she didn't reply: she just spoke to his assailant, her voice as cold as ice.

"I didn't think you'd have the courage to show your face here again, Fukushima."

"Fukushima?" Monty repeated, frowning a little. No, the name didn't tell him anything… still, why should it? He had never met him before that night. Not _him_.

The young man called Fukushima glared death at her. "You know who he is! You know what he'll do! Let's just finish him, and nothing will have happened! It would be for the best, and you know it – you _all_ know it! Why are you protecting him?"

Now it was Monty's time to fume. "I don't _need_ her protection!" he said, fully knowing it was anything but a clever move, but he would be darned before needing any kind of _protection_ from someone who despised him so clearly "I could-"

"Just blow the horn," Yori cut him off without even turning to look at him, and it was only then that Monty was reminded of the horn he was given before going on patrol, the one hanging from his belt that he was supposed to blow in case of danger or if he spot an intruder. He had completely forgotten about it.

_How very clever of you, Monty, old chap._

Fukushima gave a cry of rage as he saw him reaching for the horn, clearly desperate to finish him before he could call for help, but Yori met his attack, and Monty had the time to bring the horn to his mouth and blow. The sound echoed through the mountain and Fukushima let out a curse. He managed to get Yori off him and, with one last furious glare at him, turned to flee – he leapt in the shadows, and a moment later he was gone. Yori seemed about to go after him, but she hesitated, and only instants later Monty found himself surrounded by several Yamanouchi ninjas. He blinked in surprise: it had only been instants from when he had blown the horn, and he hadn't even heard them coming, and… where did they appear from anyway?

"What is it?" one of them, a man Monty had seen teaching several fighting techniques to the students, asked.

"It's Fukushima, Kaiji-sempai," Yori said, bowing her head a little "it seems he's still on Mount Yamanouchi after all. He escaped as soon as you arrived."

The man frowned. "And so he never left," he muttered before turning to the others. "He can't have gone far. Kayako, Yuki, Toshio – you'll go up to north while Tomoko, Chiyo and I go down the southern path. Yori, warn the others and bring him back to the school. He's hurt," he added, even though it was clear from his stony expression that he wouldn't have bothered to lend him any help had it been him to decide.

"It will be my honour," Yori said quietly before turning to Monty, and he was taken aback by how tired she suddenly looked "come, those wounds need to be tended."

For a moment Monty was tempted to tell her he could do that by himself, but he felt tired as well, drained, and there were questions he needed to ask. He merely nodded and followed her back into the school while the other ninjas started their search.

* * *

"I'm not sure, KP," Ron muttered through the half-chewed naco "I mean, that sounds like a sucky time to be stuck into. No TV, no videogames, no internet… no nacos!" he added with a shudder.

Kim shrugged. "Well, he isn't exactly from our time, so TV aside I don't think he got any chance to grow to like that kind of stuff anyway. Also, he doesn't seem one for nacos."

"Hey, I could have converted him to the Word of Naco if we didn't have to send him back in the time stream so soon," he pointed out. Beside him, Rufus nodded. "And to Zombie Mayhem, too!"

She had to chuckle as she recalled his unenthusiastic expression when facing either thing. "I'm sure he'll be fine when he is. We won't have to leave him back there… well, back _then_ for long. Besides, he mentioned he was interested in that period. I'm sure he'll even have fun taking a look around until we take care of Monkey Fist and can let him get back to his own time. Like a vacation, or something."

"Yeah, good point," Ron said, making a face "some guys have odd ideas when it comes to vacations. Hey, speaking of ideas, I have this cool idea for the mascot's number at the next match…"

Kim let him blabber about his plans for the Mad Dogs mascot for a few more minutes – Bonnie was so _not_ going to appreciate his idea of trying to climb on top of the cheerleaders' human pyramid and start foaming in case of victory – before she gestured for him to stop and turned to look around as casually as she could. "It's gone," she finally said, smiling a little. Yes, it looked like the plan had worked: the monkey ninja who had been observing them – and eavesdropping their conversation, as weird as the thought was – was gone, most likely to report to Monkey Fist what it had heard them saying.

Ron gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, great! Because you know, it wasn't fun eating nacos while knowing there was a stinky monkey near. Took away some of the bliss. Do you think he'll fall for it?"

Kim shrugged. "He has no reason not to," she said "the monkey he sent to have information on Monty's location comes back to tell him that we didn't spot it, and that it heard us talking about having sent him in another time to keep him safe. I'm sure he'll fall for it. And as long as he keeps looking for him in the past, Monty is safe in the present."

"And we can track down Monkey Freak any time he uses the Time Monkey," Ron added "not bad at all."

"Yeah, that's a nice plus," Kim said with a smirk. That was almost too convenient, but she sure wasn't going to complain. The more chances they got to snatch the Tempus Simia from him, the better it was.

* * *

Monty couldn't really say he liked the idea of letting Yori take care of his wounds, but when she had silently fetched some cold water, ice and a cloth after leading him to the infirmary and telling him to sit he hadn't found it in himself to snap at her to leave him alone – partly because he felt too drained to do so, and partly because he had some things to ask her and that would have probably made her less than willing to speak. Not that it stopped him from at least mumbling something on how he didn't help as she sat next to him and brought the wet cloth to his face, more out of habit than for anything else.

"Weren't you also saying something about how you don't need any protection?" Yori said, gazing at the cuts and bruises on his face but she didn't sound at all satisfied as Monty had expected her to. So much the better – he didn't feel like having to discuss, not now.

"I was wrong," he just admitted, blankly staring ahead, the he blinked as he realized that she had paused, the cold cloth not having touched his bruised skin again. He turned to see her quizzically staring at him. "What?"

She recoiled and clenched her jaw a little before resuming her work. "Nothing," she said, not really wanting to let him know how much he had just surprised her by just admitting he had been wrong "you were very lucky. There are no permanent injuries," she added, fully expecting to him to mutter something on how he wasn't feeling that lucky at all, but he once again surprised her.

"I suppose I was. More than him."

"Are you referring to Fukushima?" Yori scowled, as always when she thought of that traitor "he was far luckier than you can imagine. He managed to get away, and I doubt we'll find him-"

"What happened to him?"

She blinked. "What?"

Monty turned to glance at her, and she was surprised to see how bitter the expression on his face was. "When I said that there are more people who'd rather see me dead than people who want to help me out, I didn't think I was being so accurate," he said bitterly "he didn't attack me randomly, did he? He wanted to kill me, and me alone. He accused me of ruining his life. So don't pretend you didn't understand what I asked and just tell me – what did Monkey Fist do to him?"

Yori hesitated, then she just put down the cloth – his lip had stopped bleeding – and put some ice in it before pressing it against his cheek. Once again, she was a lot gentler than Monty would have expected her to. "Fukushima was once a student here. Monkey Fist convinced him that it would be a disgrace to Yamanouchi aiding Stoppable-san to become the Monkey Master and use the Lotus Blade-"

"The Lotus Blade?" he asked, suddenly distracted "the shape-shifting sword? It's _here_?"

She froze for a moment, mentally cursing herself for that slip of tongue, then she just pressed the ice against Monty's face again. "That's beside the point," she said in the kind of tone that discouraged any further questioning "the point is, Monkey Fist convinced him to help him getting the Lotus Blade, probably by telling him he was the true Monkey Master and that Fukushima was destined to aid him. Such arrogance!" she snorted with a loathing in her voice Monty chose to ignore – it wasn't like he could complain after all.

"So he convinced him to betray Yamanouchi? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes. Fukushima helped him setting a trap by using me as bait, and then he tried to get rid of both of us once Stoppable-san came to my aid. Once their plans were thwarted, Fukushima was expelled from the school; he avoided more serious consequences only because of his young age, and because secrecy had to be kept."

"So he assumed that if he killed me, Monkey Fist would never come to be and he would never lose his honour. It does make sense. But how could he know I was here?" Monty asked.

Yori shook her head slightly, a thoughtful frown on her face. "He can't have known it from anyone in the school, of that I'm certain – we all severed any contact with him. However… maybe he never left Mount Yamanouchi, the shame being too great for him to return to his family: what we know for sure is that he never returned home. But that he could get close enough to the school to see you and gather who you are without being detected… that's unacceptable. We should have known he was here."

He just nodded, not really caring about how much that upset her; all he could think was that maybe that Fukushima person had more reasons to hate him than anyone else in there. He still refused, absolutely _refused_ to take any blame for it, but still…

"Just how many people did that man destroy?" he asked, quietly, and for a moment his features twisted in such a bitter expression that she felt almost sorry for him. Almost.

"I don't really know. But I thought you said that what your old valet told you was enough and that you didn't want to know anything else."

"I _don't_," he replied, barely wincing as Yori pressed the ice against his face again "but if there are other people around here who actually want me dead, I'd very much like to know it in advance instead of having to find out the hard way."

"There is no need to concern yourself. You're safe here."

"Am I? It seems like we give two different meanings to the word _safety_," he said a little sarcastically.

She stayed silent for a moment before replying quietly. "What happened was caused by my mistake – I shouldn't have left you behind while on patrol. It will not happen again," she said quietly.

"Ah," Monty seemed taken aback for a few moments before he cleared his throat. A part of him was agreeing that yes, she was supposed to be watching him, but on the other hand… well, he did claim he didn't need any kind of help, and he did downright ask to be left alone. "It's alright."

"No, it's not. It was my duty to watch over you, and I failed," Yori shook her head "the last failure of a long series. It's not alright."

Mont found himself thinking back of how he had felt after knowing Monkey Fist had killed Bates – he had hated Monkey Fist so much that he could have killed him, he _still_ did… and he had hated _himself_ for signing Bates' death sentence by just turning to him without thinking of the consequences that could have for him, and the guilt gnawing at him had been almost too much to bear. He wondered if that was how Yori had been feeling about Monkey Fist, about him, and about herself.

"I didn't do much to convince you to stay close to watch over me as you should have. I said some things I wasn't actually thinking," he finally admitted "I'm… sorry about your friend. Hirotaka, wasn't it?"

Yori sighed. "Hirotaka, yes."

"I'm sorry for what happened to him. And I'm sorry I brought him up as I did," Monty seemed hesitant for a moment before he spoke again "I don't know exactly how things went, but… I promise his death won't have ever happened once the time stream has been fixed," he said a tad awkwardly.

Yori looked surprised and for a moment she stared at him as if trying to decide if he was being honest or not, then her gaze seemed to soften slightly.

"If you actually do not want to become Monkey Fist, then… then his death will not have happened," she said, clearly barely allowing herself to hope that would happen "in any case, the blame of what happened tonight to you is mine. It was my duty keeping you safe, and I wasn't supposed to let anything you told me lead me to do anything but what was expected from me. I have no excuses and will welcome whatever punishment Sensei will see fit in the morning."

"Not if I told him you were with me all the time. Nobody saw much of anything, and we could say that Fukushima stunned you and-"

"I wouldn't do that!" Yori protested, sounding offended by the mere thought "I cannot lie to Sensei or to the others. It will be my honour to face my own responsibilities."

"Fine, _fine_. You certainly are obsessed with honour," Monty muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Some people do value their honour," Yori said a little coldly.

"Why, no need to be offended. I simply wanted to hel- ow!" he yelped as the ice pack pressed again on his lip, which still hurt like hell even though it had stopped bleeding.

"Keep still," Yori just said, and he relaxed again as he realized she had not hurt him on purpose after all "it won't hurt for much longer."

Monty did as she instructed, and for a while they just stayed silent. It was eventually Yori to break the silence. "In any case, I suppose I should thank you. Even though it would involve lying, I… do appreciate the fact you wanted to help me," she finally said.

Monty frowned a little, unsure whether she really appreciated it or just wanted to make up for leaving him behind and thus vulnerable, then he simply shrugged. "You're welcome," he said. He had thought that would end the brief conversation, but Yori had something more to say. Something to ask.

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why would you be willing to lie so that I won't face my rightful punishment?" she asked, putting the ice pack aside "I did leave you behind, and… I certainly haven't made your stay pleasant," she sounded a little hesitant now "Monkey Fist would certainly love to see me punished for my mishap."

He snorted. "Just in case I haven't made it perfectly clear to this point, _I am not Monkey Fist_," he snapped "what do I have to _do_ to convince you?"

Yori sighed. "Nothing, not anymore. I'm starting to see just now how unfairly I've treated you."

Monty opened his mouth to retort, then he paused as what she had just said sank in his brain. "Wait, do you mean…are you being serious?" he asked, wondering if he heard well "did you hit your head in the fight?"

She couldn't hold back a chuckle before turning serious again. "I wasn't harmed, unlike you," she muttered, glancing a little worriedly at the bruise forming on his cheekbone "but I have been taught to be humble, and humbleness also means being aware of one's own fallibility. I forgot this when I refused to listen to what you've been saying all this time to cling to a prejudice," Yori said quietly before bowing her head slightly "it is my honour to apologize."

"Ah." He stared at her for a few moments, speechless, then he recoiled. "Apology accepted," he said, then he smirked "or, if you prefer, it is my honour to accept your apology."

Yori seemed amused. "I'm glad to see you're not holding grudge."

"You do have your reasons to despise Monkey Fist, and… it _is_ an unusual situation," he conceded "and I suppose I didn't do much to be a pleasant guest."

"Neither I did much to be a pleasant host," she reminded him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, it appears we're destined to argue, no matter what. I suppose now we're going to argue to get the blame of what happened until morning. Or perhaps we should simply agree that we're not agreeing and leave it at that."

Yori smiled a little and seemed about to reply, but before she could the door slid open, and they both turned to see Sensei walking in. "Master Sensei," Yori said, quickly getting on her feet before bowing. Monty did not get up, but the old man didn't seem to expect him to, and he merely nodded at Yori.

"I have heard what happened from Kaiji," he said "so Fukushima is still on the mountain, and had the nerve to attack. I am sorry you had to face his wrath," he added, turning to Monty "you will not be sent to patrol until he's caught. As long as he's free, you'll be in danger."

"So they couldn't find him yet," Yori murmured with a frown.

The old man shook his head. "Unfortunately not," he said "but tell me, Yori – how could he come close enough to you to attack? And how come he carries the marks of a fight?" he asked quietly "you have all the necessary skills needed to keep Fukushima away from him."

For a moment Monty was about to open his mouth and come up with some excuse for her, but before he could she lowered her head and replied. "I was careless," she said "I let my emotions rule me and left him behind. Had I arrived a few instants too late, he might have not survived the encounter," she added, and Monty had to bite back a retort on how he wasn't doing _that_ badly.

"Hmmm," Sensei looked at her thoughtfully "to be honest, Yori, I expected you to behave differently."

She lowered her gaze. "I know I failed – it will be my honour to face whatever punishment you see fit."

Sensei nodded. "Very well," he muttered, stroking his beard briefly before looking past her and directly to Monty "do you think a punishment would be fit?"

Monty found himself dumbly staring back at him. He wasn't serious, was he? "I… what?" he stammered.

"You're the one who was wronged. I'll keep whatever you say it in mind before voicing my decision."

"Ah," Monty shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Yori, whose gaze was still lowered. He hesitated for a few more moments, then he remembered the apology she had offered him only minutes earlier and shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I… downright demanded to be left alone. I suppose I have my share of blame, so if you do think a punishment would be fit I demand… I mean, I request to share it," he added, a part of his mind wondering if he had just gone insane. Judging by the surprised look on her face, Yori was wondering the same thing. It looked like sanity was not an option for him after all. Oh well.

Far from looking surprised, Sensei smiled at him as though he was proud of him. "I see. Although I must say that the wounds you got would qualify as a punishment already," he said, some amusement showing in his voice, then he turned to Yori "your remorse if more than enough, Yori. I don't think any punishment is needed, but I do expect you to perform your duties with more attention."

Yori bowed at him. "I will, Sensei," she said quietly as the old man nodded one last time and left the room.

Monty sighed. "Well, it went better than I expected. Though I must say that if you let me tell him… what?" he asked as he noticed she was looking at him as though she had never seen him before.

"Why didn't you ask for a punishment?" she asked him "I… was unfair to you," she added uneasily, and Monty knew what she was thinking – Monkey Fist would have loved to see her punished. And he knew that until maybe a hour earlier he would have got quite some satisfaction upon seeing her facing a punishment, if anything for the way she had been treating him. But she had apologized, and… and he wasn't Monkey Fist.

"I was under the impression we had settled for not starting a contest to decide who's guiltier," he finally said with a somewhat awkward chuckle, and she smiled back, if a little hesitantly.

"Your actions honour you," she said, bowing a little to him "thank you, Fiske-san."

Fiske-san? Now _that_ was a drastic change, Monty thought before recovering from his surprise and bowing back, if a little hesitantly. "It was my honour."


	11. Fate

_A/N: yes, know this update took me a while. I'm sorry about that. I'll also be working on my NaNoWriMo project all November, so the next update will be in December. after that __I'll try to make updates quicker than this so that I can wrap this up before next century. _XD

* * *

Sensei frowned a little as he failed to see Monty sitting at the usual corner. He let his gaze run through the students who were eating and talking during the break, but he was nowhere to be seen – nor was Yori.

"Where are Yori and our guest?" he asked, turning to one of the teachers.

"They chose not to come back for the lunch break," was the reply "they chose to stay on the training ground for further training."

Sensei's eyebrows rose in slight surprise. "They did?" he asked. He turned to the training ground to see that, indeed, both Yori and Monty Fiske were training; it looked like Yori was showing him a few stances.

"Should we tell them to get back, Sensei?"

The old man shook his head. "No, no," he said with a small smile "let them continue."

* * *

"You're doing well, but you're still a little unbalanced," Yori was saying "you should keep your knee a little more bent. And your left arm should be brought back," she added, taking the stance to make herself clearer.

"Like this?" Monty asked, trying to take the exact same stance as her

"Yes, exactly like that," Yori said, sounding rather impressed by how easily he had mirrored her stance "it will allow you to spring into action more quickly."

"Are you certain? It doesn't seem much different from the usual one," Monty pointed out before smiling a little "perhaps I should give it a try before judging whether or not it fits my style."

Yori smiled a little. "I'm ready whenever you are," she said, bowing her head slightly. Monty smiled back.

"Very well," he muttered, and the next second he leaping on her. His fighting style was still rather unpolished and it was clear he didn't have much experience yet when it came to actual fighting, but Yori had to admit that, for someone who was completely self-learned, it was quite impressive – and this time his form was near perfect. He seemed to be a fast learner, too.

She dodged his high kick and crouched to spin with the intent of tripping him, but he seemed to guess her intention and leapt back. Yori sprang back to her feet and he tried to hit her, but she blocked his blow with one arm. "You're doing well," she told him, taking a step back.

Monty smirked. "I suppose your were right this time," he conceded "that stance allowed me a good start. I think I'll use it often from now on. Thank you."

"It is my honour to teach you all I can," she said calmly, as though they were talking over tea and crumpets rather than in the middle of training and exchanging blows in a way that would have made any observer with no martial arts training wince "though it will probably not be enough to make up for my dreadful behaviour."

"I was under the impression we had agreed not to speak of it again. In any case, doesn't this make you my sensei?" Monty asked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he back-flipped to dodge her attack.

"I'm just a student. I would never dare to decorate myself with a title I don't deserve," Yori pointed out somewhat sternly, but her lips curled in a slight smile before she had to focus on blocking his attack. Odd, she thought, he wasn't trying quite as hard as before. It was almost like he was more interested in chatting than in training.

"You still have a lot of responsibility for a student. Wasn't it you to lead the mission-" he trailed off as he saw her clenching her jaw a moment before delivering a high kick he could barely block "wait, I didn't meant to… my apologies. I simply wanted to point out that it's a lot of responsibility for a student. Your Sensei must think highly of your skills," he added, now only focused on blocking the attacks rather than attacking back. A part of him feared his comment had been enough to break the still rather new mutual respect between them, but he was relieved to realize there was no malice behind her blows, and that her expression was softening a already – as much as it could soften while she was focused on training.

"There is no need to apologize," she finally said, leaping back as Monty finally began to counter attack once more "I know you didn't mean anything by it," she added. While she and Hirotaka had never really been very close they did get along, and it had been terrible having to bring his body back to Yamanouchi after a mission she was supposed to supervise – still, she couldn't let her pain and guilt cloud her judgment once more; she could tell he hadn't meant to hurt her by bringing that mission up.

"I didn't, but-"

"That's all that matters," Yori cut him off just a little sharply as she sidestepped his blow and delivered a mid-air kick he could barely dodge, and it occurred to Monty it would probably be a good idea just keeping his mouth shut about it, so he focused on the training once more.

He blocked her blow with one arm and tried to grab her with the other hand, but it turned out to be a bad choice: not only she could dodge, but she also managed to grab his arm and turn so that he could use his own momentum to fling him over her back. Still, Monty managed to twist in mid-air and land on his feet – something Yori hadn't been expecting, so she wasn't fast enough to change her stance and jump back: a moment later Monty delivered a powerful roundhouse kick that sent her tumbling on the ground.

A cry of triumph left Monty as he realized that he had finally, _finally_ gained the upper hand – still, it was short-lived: before he had time to do or say anything Yori's legs hooked themselves around his ankles and she twisted, rolling on the ground and causing him to lose his balance and stumble. His cry of triumph still ringing in his ears, Monty found himself pinned to the cold ground with chuckling Yori keeping him pressed to the ground, one forearm pressing on his throat.

"Here's another lesson: never assume it's over when your opponent is still in the condition to fight," she told him, still smiling slightly.

Monty felt a slight pang of annoyance and a little humiliation – it had been a foolish mistake and he must have seemed rather stupid to her – but her chuckle was so good-natured that in the end he just smiled a little sheepishly. "I'll keep that in mind," he managed to breathe "now, would you mind…?"

"Of course," Yori said, pulling back her arm – Monty drew in a few deep breaths – and getting up. She did not offer him her hand to get up, and Monty was rather grateful for that: he felt stupid enough as it was.

"You do have a good way to drive your point across," he commented, rubbing his throat briefly.

"Lessons learned like this are usually the ones that stick in one's mind," Yori reply before bowing a little to him "it was my honour to teach you."

Monty bowed back. "It was my honour to mop your training floor," he said a little dryly.

Yori chuckled. "Still, you did well," she said, and she sounded so honest he found himself smirking a little.

"You don't make a bad teacher."

"Nor you make a bad pupil once you start giving heed to advice."

"Now you truly _are_ speaking like a sensei," he remarked, and this time she let her amusement show a little more than she had previously. She opened her mouth to say something, but she eventually closed it without speaking as she saw the other students and some teachers approaching the training ground, each of them carrying a wooden spear.

"Seems like it's time for the next lesson," Monty commented, feeling just a little disappointed it was time already. While useful, lessons didn't allow much talk – not nearly as much as what he could allow himself during his one-to-one training with Yori.

"It is," Yori said with a nod "have you ever trained with a spear, by the way?"

"It depends. Does a seventeenth century halberd come close enough?"

Yori blinked at him.

"… I didn't happen to have a proper _spear_ at hand back home," Monty added a little embarrassedly, crossing his arms over his chest "the only one in the castle is too ancient to use. It would break in two if touched."

Yori shook her head a little, but she seemed amused – again. "I suppose it was enough to familiarize with the stands and basic moves," she said, turning to look at one of the students, who was carrying two more spears with him. One for her and one for Fiske-san, she assumed. "Are you ready to learn more?"

"It will be my honour."

* * *

"WHERE IS HE?"

The monkey ninjas winced as a cry broke the calm of the jungle, but Monkey Fist paid no mind to them. He let out another cry of rage and hit the nearest tree with both fists before falling silent, breathing heavily.

"Where?" he finally growled under his breath, and it took him all his strength not to collapse from exhaustion. In the past days – had it been days? It was so difficult to know how long he had been going on when he kept moving through the time stream! – he hadn't slept, he hadn't eaten, hadn't rested a moment – he had kept looking for his younger self in every single time he could think he might be. From what his monkey ninjas had told him he was in a time period he was 'interested into', and that had seemed to narrow the field… but not enough, not nearly enough.

He couldn't find him anywhere, in _any_ time – but he would always find Team Possible in his way, trying to pry the Tempus Simia from his hands; it was as though they could tell in what time he went each time, and together with the lack of rest it was starting to wear him out. Perhaps that was their goal, exhausting him and his monkey ninjas until they wouldn't be able to put up enough of a fight? But of course it was! They had to be hoping they could take the Tempus Simia from him by exhausting him!

Monkey Fist let out another frustrated snarl, but he eventually forced himself to relax and slowly sat on the ground, taking a lotus position to meditate; meditation allowed his body and mind a better rest than sleep could, and it would take him less time. He could not allow Team Possible to take the Tempus Simia from him simply because he was too tired to properly protect it; perhaps calming his mind would also help him figure out where, and _when_, his younger self was hiding.

The monkey man closed his eyes and tried to even his breathing and calm his mind, but it proved to be a difficult task, for the question that had tormented him who knew how long took a long time to be put to rest.

* * *

_"Where is he?"_

_"I… I don't know, milord, I-"_

_"He was here wasn't he?"_

_"He…"_

_"Don't you dare lying to me, Bates. I know he was here."_

_"I told him nothing, milord, I swear. I wouldn't have known what to tell him. I don't know a thing about this… this…"_

_"I'm sure you told him at least something. I'm sure you tried to turn him against me by filling his mind with lies, by keeping him in his ignorance. You would love to that, wouldn't you? To keep me from fulfilling my destiny so that you could keep living your miserable life as my valet, well paid and living in my castle – that is surely your goal."_

_"Milord, I can assure you I never-"_

_"I warned you. I told you what the penance for crossing me would be, did I not?"_

_"Milord, please…!"_

"NO!"

Monty awoke with a start, eyes snapping open to meet nothing but darkness. He stayed still for a few moments, his breath ragged, waiting for reality to sink in his brain – that it had been a dream, a dream playing out Bates' last minutes, or what he supposed they might have been like. The thought made his stomach clench, as always. If only he hadn't turned to him, he thought, if only he had realized Monkey Fist would know he would do just that. If only-

"Fiske-san?"

Monty blinked at the dim light as the door of his room slid open. He glanced up to see the vague outline of a feminine figure looking down, but her voice – and the way she had addressed to him – left no room for mistake. "Yori," he said, sitting up "what…?"

"I heard you crying out. I wanted to make sure you were alright," she replied, worry showing in her voice.

"I'm fine. I was simply having…" he paused, not wanting to utter something as puerile as that he was having a nightmare – she could probably guess it in any case. "It's nothing. My apologies for waking you up."

"You didn't wake me up," was Yori's reply "I was on my way to the roof."

Monty blinked. "The roof?"

"Yes. With Fukushima targeting you, we have to be careful. I am to guard the entrance to the school tonight, and the roof is by far the best observation point. No one will be able to sneak inside. Toshio will guard the dormitory from all other sides. You'll sleep safely here," she added softly before letting the door slide closed once more. Through the paper he could barely see her outline as she lingered in front of the door for a few moments before walking off, and once she did he kept staring ahead for a while.

Sleep safely, she had said – but was sleeping an option now? He didn't think so; he was afraid of where his mind would wander the moment he shut his eyes again. One nightmare was enough for a night. Still, the thought of just laying there with his eyes wide open in the dark worried him just as much: he knew what he would think of with the dream still fresh in his memory, and he certainly didn't what that either.

_So what now?_

* * *

As she sat on the highest rooftop, her gaze still fixed on the entrance now lit by torches to take a way the cover of darkness from whoever tried to get through, Yori found herself smiling a little.

"I know you're here, Fiske-san."

"Ah," Monty's voice came from behind her, sounding surprised and just a little disappointed "how…?"

"You're not as silent as you think," she said with a faint chuckle, not turning her gaze to him as he sat next to her on the rooftop "but you were remarkably quick to climb up here. And you must have been silent enough if you managed to sneak past Toshio's watch."

"You sound like you were expecting me to come here."

"Not quite, but I did not expect you not to in your room and try to sleep again," she turned her gaze to the sky briefly, for now that Fukushima's target was sitting beside her there was little point in watching the entrance "I find myself unable to as well when sleeps brings nothing but bad memories."

Monty gave a low hum, not really wanting to comment that. He felt it would be inappropriate of him asking her what kind of bad memories could keep her awake at night, nor he wanted to dwell on his own. He gestured for the torches that lit the entrance. "Is all this hassle meant to protect me from Fukushima?"

She nodded. "Yes. As our honoured guest-"

"There are more than a few people who'd have something to say about that," Monty said dryly.

Yori didn't seem to mind. "Regardless, you _are_ our guest. And it will be our honour to shield you from any danger as long as you're here."

"I see."

A brief silence followed. "Aren't you worried for your own safety?" he finally asked "from what I could see – well, I _felt_ it more than anything – Fukushima is skilled. And if he's so determinated to kill me to prevent Monkey Fist from coming to be, he might have no qualms-"

Yori shook her head. "Do not worry for us. We know how to defend ourselves. Most of us trained along with Fukushima for years. We know his techniques, and his weaknesses."

"But what of Monkey Fist?" Monty retorted "if he finds out I'm here-"

"We'll fight him as well. We already did. And we already won," Yori said, this time a little more coldly, and Monty immediately shook his head.

"No, I… don't doubt of your skills. But I fear Monkey Fist would sink low enough to target… other people."

Yori blinked, taken by surprise, then her expression softened as she finally realized what – or rather who – he was thinking of. "You mean like he killed your friend? Is that what was on your mind earlier?"

He bit his lower lip, then he nodded. "Yes. He didn't truly do anything against him; he could not help me in any way. And he still took his anger out on him, and killed him. That's why I thought… aren't you worried he could target your families if he can't target you directly?" he asked, his insides clenching as always when he thought of that possibility – more because of his revulsion at the idea he could grow up to be that despicable than because he truly worried over the safety of people he knew nothing of, to be honest.

She shook her head. "There is no need for you to worry. Most of the families of the students here are made of ninjas as well. They can look after themselves, and if not they're well protected by Yamanouchi – as are their identities, so it's unlikely for Monkey Fist or anyone else to be able to track them down in any way to begin with. As for me, I simply have no reason to fear a such thing," she said quietly.

It took a few moments for the meaning of her words to sink in Monty's brain – she had no reason to worry because she had no family for whose safety she could worry. "Ah," he finally uttered before clearing his throat "I… my apologies. I had no idea."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Yori reassured him "and you? Are you worried for your family?"

Monty sighed. "I don't know. A little, I suppose. I don't think Monkey Fist would have any reason to harm his… my mother, and want to hope he wouldn't. But he's insane, and who knows…" he paused "not to mention she's dead to this day. At least I hope I'll be able to keep it from happening once I get back."

"I see. How did she…?"

"She fell from the stairs," Monty said, his voice distant "or so Bates told me. What a stupid way to leave. And it was my fault."

"Your fault?" Yori asked with a frown "how could it be your-"

"She wanted to install a lift in the castle so that we wouldn't have to climb up and down the stairs every time we needed something on another floor," Monty cut her off, a bitter expression on his face "she suggested it for the first time when I was fifteen. But I thought it wouldn't be something fit for an old castle such as ours. I wanted to keep it as it was, and I opposed to the idea so much that we never…" he paused and swallowed before going on "had there been a lift for her to use, she wouldn't have used the stairs that night. It's not like I pushed her myself, but… I am responsible. I didn't spare a thought on how convenient it would be for her with advancing age, I could only think of how it would ruin the castle. _My_ castle, _my_ inheritance, _my_ home. It was all about _me_ and _my_ wishes. I didn't even stop to consider it was her home as much as mine."

A brief silence followed. Monty kept his gaze fixed ahead, barely even aware of the slight breeze ruffling his hair but all too aware of Yori's intent gaze on him, and for a moment he found himself regretting speaking to let her know just what selfish, spoiled imbecile he had been: he had probably lost whatever respect he had gained from her now.

"I'll admit that it was selfish of you," Yori finally said slowly, finally breaking the silence "but you didn't imagine there would be such consequences. Had you known it, I'm sure you wouldn't have argued."

"I wouldn't have," Monty conceded before smiling a little "I certainly won't once I'm back in my time. She can have lifts in every corner of the castle if so she wishes, or we'll sell the whole castle to move someplace without any stairs. Anything," he added, ignoring the way his stomach had clenched at the mere thought of selling the family castle.

Yori stared at him a little more intently. "I was under the impression you're very attached to your ancestors' home," she said, thinking back of all the time he had ended up recalling the castle's history.

Monty shrugged. "I am, there's no denying that," he said "but it's not that important in the end. Certainly not as much as my mother's life, wouldn't you agree?"

Yori nodded, a smile curling her lips. "Your words honour you," she said, and Monty chuckled a little.

"I suppose your Sensei was right after all – I'm too thick-headed to learn from my mistakes before facing the consequences," he said, looking back up at the sky "on this aspect, I'd say this whole… time travel mishap was fortunate enough. I know what I should do to avoid a senseless death, if anything, and… I can at least try not to let things go quite as wrong as they did once," he finished, his brow furrowing in thought.

"Are you doubting yourself?" Yori asked quietly.

"Yes. No. Maybe," Monty admitted after a moment's hesitation "I still don't know what exactly went wrong, and how. If I could go so wrong once, there's no telling whether or not… you know…" he paused and clenched his jaw "but I'll try. I might be able to change things. Bates believed I could."

"So do I," Yori said softly, almost without thinking, and he blinked in surprise, turning to look at her again.

"You do?"

She nodded. "Yes. Back when Stoppable-san was here for the first time, there was so much self-doubt in him. He didn't believe in himself, but I did. Someone had to. And I was right to believe in him," she smiled a little, whether at him or at the memory Monty couldn't tell "my trust was not misplaced, and I hope it isn't this time, either."

He stared at her for a few moments, a little stunned, then he recoiled and cleared his throat. "Well, I'm… honoured to see how much your opinion on me has changed," he said with a small smirk "and to think you said Monkey Fist and I were one and the same."

"I still think you are one and the same," Yori replied "don't look at me like that – you _are_. But not quite the way I thought. You're more like two sides of the same coin. Two different sides," she added, sounding scarily close to Sensei in Monty's opinion "in any case, my opinion is far from the only thing that changed," Yori added, turning away from him once more to gaze at the stars above them "you changed as well."

Monty raised a sceptical brow. "I did?"

"Would you have admitted being, as you put it, thick-headed only days ago?" she asked with a clear hint of amusement, and he gave a small laugh.

"Touché, I suppose. Though that's hardly a big change."

"I think it is," she replied "and it's not the only thing that changed."

Monty blinked. "It isn't?" he asked "and what else…?"

"You take responsibility for your actions and their consequences," Yori told him, then: "but there still is something troubling you, isn't there?"

He shook his head. "No. Nothing aside from the obvious. I'm fine," he lied. The truth was that he couldn't help but wonder – what if he could not change things? No matter how much he despised Monkey Fist, he _was_ the man he had become, and not knowing how it could happen, how he could _let_ it happen, still bothered him immensely. Oh, he would try, of course – but what if he could not, what if he was simply bound to go insane someday? It had happened once, and it could happen again. "What if I fail?" he finally heard himself asking.

She frowned. "Fisk-san, there are people who do believe in-"

"I know you do," Monty cut her off "and I'm grateful for that. However, if I don't… what will be your plan? What will you do?"

Yori turned away. "Nothing. Once we have taken the Tempus Simia away from Monkey Fist, we'll send you back to your own time. The rest will be up to you; we will not change history to fit our wishes."

He frowned. "But this would mean that… that things might stay the same. I could… Monkey Fist… _he_ would happen. And you'd have to fight him just as before, and he could-"

"I know," Yori cut him off, and he shut his mouth when he realized how deeply the thought bothered her as well "but what are we to do? The very same moment you return to your own time, everything will be out of our hands. It will only depend on you."

Monty opened his mouth to retort, but he could think of nothing he cold say about that, and he shut it without speaking. He lowered his gaze, his brow furrowing as he recalled what Sensei had told him a few days before.

_I saw exactly the same flaws in your character I saw in Monkey Fist; the flaws that I'm inclined to believe are mostly to blame for his downfall… you and him are the same individual… you share many traits with him, and there's no denying that… you're too arrogant for your own good, too easy to anger… you won't listen to advice, and you let your pride blind you… _

"If you could see the signs before then," he finally said slowly "if you saw something, _anything_ in me that would lead you to believe I cannot change a thing, and if you saw them before you send me back to my own time, then what would you do?"

Yori frowned in slight confusion. "What…?"

"If you were to believe that if I go back to my time I will still turn out that way, that there would be no escaping it – what would you do then?" he asked, staring straight in her eyes "to what lengths would you go to stop it?"

She stared back only for a moment, then she turned away, saying nothing.

"Yori…?"

"To no lengths," she finally spoke "there would be only one way to keep it from happening in that case, and murder is something we'll never resolve to. Especially not against someone whose crimes have not yet been committed."

A long, heavy silence followed. "I understand," Monty finally said before he tried to smile a little "I suppose this simply means I'll have to try my best," he added, but he didn't feel nearly as convinced as he wanted to seem. And when he excused himself to climb back down the roof she didn't insist to escort him back to the dormitory: she had clearly guessed he wanted to be left alone.

* * *

Once in front of the dormitory – and out of Yori's sight, for she was watching another area – Monty allowed himself to linger for a few more minutes without going back inside. What was the point? After all, he was not going to sleep anymore, not for that night. He supposed he could just stay outside for a while, at least until the student who was meant to watch that area – Toshio, wasn't it? – found him and ordered him to-

A sudden thought hit him, causing him to blink. Now that he thought about it – why hadn't he found him already? And why hadn't he caught him when he had walked out to climb on the roof beside Yori? He had been careful, but sneaking away without being caught had been surprisingly easy; too easy, now that he thought about it.

And unless he was mistaken, Toshio happened to be the student he had fought on his first day there and who had been more than happy to give him as many bruises as he could; he clearly despised him, so wouldn't he have been extra careful while on duty so that he could catch him doing something wrong and have an excuse to _remind_ him what the rules were?

Or perhaps… perhaps he had simply left his post in hopes Fukushima would manage to sneak in and deal with him – with finality. The thought made the hair on his neck stand on end. He tried to chase it, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense: both him and Fukushima hated him, they both certainly wanted him out of the way… and if he were to die Monkey Fist would have never existed, with the result time would right itself so that nothing of what he was going through now would have ever happened. Neither him nor Fukushima would be punished for his death, for nobody, not even them, would know or remember about something that had _never happened_.

Monty swallowed and took a step back form the entrance, wondering if Fukushima might be in there already, waiting for him to be back before killing him. For a moment he thought he should get back, talk to Yori and tell her about his suspicions, then he froze as he caught a movement somewhere to his left. It lasted only a moment, however – the next second he quickly stepped aside, behind one of the dormitory's walls where the light of the torches didn't reach, so that darkness would cover him.

Toshio, on the other hand, did not get the cover of darkness: at the light cast by the torches Monty could see him stepping out of what he knew was the pantry, a bundle in his arms. For a moment Monty thought that he had worried for nothing, that Toshio had simply left his post for a midnight meal, but then he saw that the student was not heading back for the dormitory: he was heading for the southern wall, where he knew the only access to the school aside from the bridge was. Monty had barely enough time to wonder what he was up to before Toshio reached the wall and began climbing up.

_What in the world…?_

He didn't stop to think: the moment Toshio disappeared on the other side of the wall Monty left his hiding place and went after him. It probably wasn't a good idea, but now he wanted to know what he was up to – and he feared he would lose him if he went to warn anyone else first. Climbing the wall wasn't too much of a challenge, not after climbing up a roof, and moments later he was letting himself fall on the other side.

Monty stayed still for a few moments, ears straining to hear any noise, and he gave a silent sigh of relief when he was sure no one had noticed him sneaking out. He turned to the path in front of him, barely illuminated by the moonlight, and he knew that was where Toshio had gone: there was simply no other direction he could have taken since Monty knew the bridge was being guarded. He headed up the path, keeping as silent as he could and trying to move in the shadows cast by the trees.

He didn't have to go too far: while it did feel like hours, it was only minutes later that a voice reached his ears – two voices, both of them familiar enough to make him freeze.

"I managed to take a blanket," Toshio was saying "it's not very cold yet, but it will change. As for the food-"

"It will be enough," the other voice, the one that unmistakably belonged to Fukushima, cut him off "have you thought of what I told you?"

"You know I can't help you that way," Toshio's voice rang again through the darkness, and now Monty, hidden behind a tree, could see their outlines in a small clearing, so very close to him "no, don't start again. I won't. I'm sorry for what happened to you and I despise Monkey Fist as much as you do for manipulating you and staining your honour. But there are boundaries I won't break, and murder is one of them. You were foolish to try attacking him. Keep yourself away from Yamanouchi for a while; everyone's alert, and it's not safe for you. These supplies should be enough-"

"He deserves death, Toshio!" Fukushima snapped "he didn't only take my honour for me! He also took Hirotaka's life! Now we have a chance to keep all of that from happening! Why let it all happen again?"

"Sensei seems to think things could change if he-"

"Sensei is wrong," Fukushima said bitterly "he doesn't know what a good liar he is. He's rotten to the core, always was, even if he really doesn't realize it yet. That will never change. He _can't_ change it."

From his hiding place, Monty shut his eyes.

"You were adamant on the fact Sensei was wrong about Stoppable, too," Toshio said quietly "and he turned out to be right."

A hiss of anger left Fukushima. "This doesn't mean he's bound to be always right. And not even he is sure this time, is he? He thinks it's _possible_ he could change things – what if nothing changes? We will have lost the only possibility we had to set things right! Let me deal with him," he added, a pleading note now showing in his voice "you won't have to shed his blood – I will. Becoming a murderer will be my penance for my mistakes. And once he dies, time will right itself. Nothing of this would have never happened, for Monkey Fist will have never existed!"

Toshio shook his head. "Fukushima, _no_. I can't allow you. You're speaking nonsense. You-"

"He's right."

Toshio's words seemed to die in his throat as both him and Fukushima turned to face Monty as he stood in plain sight only a few feet from them. "He… you… what…?" Toshio breathed. Fukushima seemed too surprised to do anything but staring at him, mouth hanging open.

"I said he's right," Monty repeated, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears "I do not know what went wrong. All I know is that at some point of my life I changed for the worst. Can I grant you that it won't happen again? No. I cannot. I can try, but…" he shook his head, and sighed. "Ah, well. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I might need your help."

Fukushima's stunned expression twisted into one of pure hatred. "Last time you asked for my help you tricked me and ruined my life!" he snarled, taking a step forward, but Toshio held up an arm, causing him to stop on his track.

"Don't make me fight you," Toshio told his friend before turning to Monty "is this a trap?"

"A trap?"

"Who else followed me?"

Monty just lifted his arms. "There is no trap, I assure you," he said "I saw you leaving and wondered what you were at. I told nobody: I was alone when I followed you. No one knows we're here. And no one will."

"No one will ever know you existed when I'll be done with you!" Fukushima snapped, only to stop again when Toshio forcefully put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

"Fukushima, _no_!" he ordered, and Fukushima did stop, though his burning eyes never left Monty. Toshio turned to him again. "What is it you want?"

"I merely want to speak. I want to know what Monkey Fist exactly did to him."

"What you did, you ask? Didn't I tell you already?" Fukushima snorted.

"No, you did not," Monty was starting to scowl himself now "all you did was screaming that you'd kill me to regain your honour and that I'd never grow to take your life away from you, all while trying to crush me. It wasn't that much of an explanation, was it? So I'm asking again – what did that man do to you?" he asked. Even though Yori had told him what had happened, there was still a part of him that needed to ask to him directly, if anything to make certain that was exactly how things went.

Fukushima stared at him incredulously. "You really don't know?" he asked, his hands shaking in fury "you ruined my life, and you don't even _know_ it?"

"I did nothing to you," Monty retorted "and I refuse to take the blame for anything that man-"

"There is no you or him, you idiot!" Fukushima snapped, taking a menacing step forward "you're one and the same, you always were, will always be! What makes you think you can simply stand there and tell me you're not to blame after taking my honour, my _life_ away from me? Answer to me!"

"I didn't do anything-"

"You didn't do anything _yet_," was the retort "but in a few decades, you will. You will talk me into believing you are the rightful owner of the Lotus Blade, talk me into acting against Yamanouchi, against everything and everyone that really _mattered_ to me! I used to be a student before I met you, and now I'm disgraced because you decided to use me as a pawn in your plans! But if I finish you here and now, Monkey Fist will never come to be and I will never lose any of that – so why should I let you live?"

Monty flinched, but he did not try to fight or get away – he had the distinct feeling that nothing would stop Fukushima from attacking him if he made a rash move, not even Toshio, and if that happened he would most likely get the upper hand. "Because," he said quietly "if you kill me, you'll be a murderer. How would that restore your honour?"

Fukushima seemed taken aback, but it only lasted for a moment. "But if I kill you, nothing of this will have happened, ever. Time will right itself without you, and everything I did will be erased from the time stream."

"If that is enough to you, then you have no right to raise a finger on me," Monty said quietly "how could you claim you'd never lose your honour for a murder you committed just because it was erased from the time stream, and _still_ expect me to take the blame for something I _didn't_ get to commit yet?"

His question seemed to hit a nerve, for Fukushima flinched. "That's… different," he said, but there was a hesitant note in his voice.

Monty raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is it? And how so?" he demanded to know.

"He is right. Please, calm yourself," Toshio said before turning to Monty "when you stepped in sight you knew you were risking your life. Why did you? What kind of help do you want from us? And why did you say Fukushima was right? He was talking about murdering you."

Monty didn't reply right away. "He is right on two different things," he finally said quietly, more to himself than to them "it was foolish of me trying to make myself believe I have nothing to do with Monkey Fist," he shut his eyes and grimaced, as always when he pronounced that… that mockery he had made of his name "we are, as you said, one and the same. Everything he did is something _I_ would have done years from now hadn't I… hadn't _he_ made the mistake to try changing the past."

Fukushima stared at him. "So you're admitting that you _are_ Monkey Fist."

"That's what I've turned out to be once already, so… yes. Yes, that is _me_," Monty could feel his throat tightening as he uttered those words, and it costed him some effort to keep speaking "but I don't want to let it happen again. I've been given a chance to change it, and I won't waste it. I can't waste it."

There were a few moments of silence, then Fukushima did something that he himself was surprised of – he dropped his stance, his eyes still fixed on Monty. "You don't want to _be_ him," he stated, sounding surprised.

Monty gritted his teeth and scowled, his eyes ablaze. "How could I? That man has turned his back to everything I've believed into, stomped on everything that mattered to me to chase after power – can't you see what I… what he turned into?" he gave Fukushima a look so full of anguish that the young ninja almost took a step back "he's obsessed, completely insane! He's pathetic and sad and _empty_. This is not what I wanted to become!"

For the briefest moment Fukushima seemed to hesitate, but then his expression hardened again as he clearly reminded himself that it had been his fault if he had been disgraced, all his fault. "But it is what you became," he said coldly "just look what you did to me!"

"I know. That is why I might need your help," Monty drew in a deep breath "I do not want to turn out that way. If I'll succeed to change things, then nothing of this would have happened, either. Don't you think?"

"Yes," Toshio said slowly "but what bothers you is the possibility you might not succeed, isn't it?"

Monty nodded. "Yes. Sensei already made it clear that even if they were to realize I'm simply… simply _meant_ to lose my mind at some point, he will do nothing about it and will simply send me back in my time and let it happen. I cannot let that happen. I'd sooner die than accepting that. If that would be my future, I'd rather have no future at all."

A long silence followed his words, both Fukushima and Toshio staring at him.

"You…" Fukushima finally spoke "you are asking us to kill you in case we were to realize you're going to fail at keeping Monkey Fist from coming to be. Is that what you're asking?"

Monty shut his eyes. "Yes."

Another silence. "You must be insane."

"Tell me something new," Monty said, managing a wry smile "but you said it yourself – if you let me live only to turn into Monkey Fist, you will have lost a chance to set things right. And you'll also have condemned me, the self you see now standing here, to a fate I consider worse than death. I was serious when I said I'd die sooner than letting things go wrong once more."

"That would make us murderers," Toshio pointed out.

"That would simply mean fulfilling my request and saving the lives of two people, at the very least," was the retort "think of that."

Another silence followed, and this time it was Toshio to speak first. "If you are so determinated to change things, I do not believe it would be needed. Still…" he paused and then bowed "your words honour you."

Monty managed to smile and bowed back. "Thank you," he said "I swear on my honour I'll try all I can to make sure Monkey Fist's existence is erased from history. And I ask you to swear on yours that at the first sign I might not manage you'll take it upon yourself to make sure it can never happen. By any means necessary," he added, looking straight at Fukushima.

Fukushima stared at him for a few moments, a thoughtful expression having replaced the furious one, then he gave him a brief nod. "Very well, I swear on my honour I will," he said, and this time Toshio said nothing to that. Nor Fukushima added anything: he bowed briefly to Toshio, took the supplies he had left for him on a rock and, after a last glance to Monty – thoughtful rather than homicidal, this time – he disappeared in the darkness of the woods.

A brief silence followed, finally broken by Toshio. "I suppose it is time for us to go back. Is it true that nobody else knows…?"

"Yes. I followed you alone."

"And no one saw you?"

"No. Nor I'll breathe a word of this," Monty added as they began walking back to the school "I assume you were friends from before Monkey Fist came along."

"Yes. We've known each other form before Yamanouchi, actually," was the reply "that is why I could not accept severing all contacts with him, no matter the mistakes he made. And I'm glad to know he won't have to make one more mistake to make things right again," he added with a small smile.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm starting to see why Sensei, and now Yori, are so inclined to believe in you. I understand your worries, but from what I've seen tonight I know that you already have all that it takes from changing things – and I'm certain Fukushima knows it, too. I don't know if it's your recent experiences that taught you something, but you _are_ different from Monkey Fist."

Monty smiled bitterly as they climbed the wall to get back inside the school. "You think? Sensei himself seems to think we have many similarities."

"You certainly cannot erase the fact you are the same individual," Toshio conceded "there are bound to be similarities. But there are also differences that come from different experiences. Do you think self-sacrifice is something that would fit Monkey Fist in any way, shape or form?"

Monty blinked, surprised, then he shook his head. "Maybe not, but I do I have selfish motives. I cannot stand the idea of turning that mockery of a man."

Toshio smiled. "And isn't that one more reason to be confident that no drastic action will be needed from Fukushima or anyone else? You've changed your fate already. You simply don't know it yet," he added before bowing slightly at him "and please, do forgive me for how unfairly I treated you when we first met."

Monty almost winced as he thought back of the bruises that fight had left on him, but he managed to shrug. "It is quite alright. You didn't hurt me as much as you probably think," he added with a small smirk.

The ninja chuckled and bowed once more before walking away to get back to his post, leaving a rather thoughtful Monty at the entrance of the dormitory.


End file.
